Changes are Ahead
by Stun04
Summary: AU Jate. Takes place as if there was no plane crash and Kate isn't a fugitive. Jack and Kate are brought together by different circumstances. Bad summary I know
1. Chapter 1

All right it seems I'm a glutton for punishment because here I am writing my third story. However if no one likes it then I guess that takes care of that problem hehe. So this is an AU Jate story. No plane crash and Kate isn't a fugitive. So check it out see if you like it and give the review button a click.

**CHAPTER 1**

Kate Austin clutched her jacket tight around her as the bitter Chicago wind chilled her to the bone. She quickly stepped through the entrance of Mercy Hospital to escape the frigid air. As she came through the doors her eyes she focused on the desk in front of her. Kate nervously brushed her hair with her hands attempting to shake the snow from her curls. She took her gloves off and approached the desk looking around her.

"Can I help you?" said the very bored looking woman sitting there, she had a nametag that read Loretta.

"Uh hi, can you please tell me is Dr. Jack Shephard working today?" Kate asked her fingers fidgeting.

Loretta looked at Kate with a wary glance. "Are you a patient?"

"Um, no I'm not a patient, I'm a" she paused uncomfortably "I'm a friend of his" Kate said nervously.

Loretta's eyebrows lifted curiously, "A friend huh? Why don't you wait over in the chairs and I'll page him to come down as soon as he can. He might be in surgery so it could be awhile, what's your name?"

Kate nodded, "Kate Austen, and that's fine I can wait, it's not a problem." Kate turned towards the chairs and Loretta swore she heard the young woman mutter _I'm not sure I'm ready to see him anyway. _That really piqued the desk clerk's interest; she watched the girl move over to the chairs. Loretta couldn't tell much being the girl was wearing the typical Chicago winter jacket, but she was very pretty. Had Dr. Shephard finally met a woman, Loretta wondered. Dr. Shephard was a man that every woman in the hospital felt the need to take care of. He was a good and kind man but he seemed to forget about caring for himself so it was common for the nurses and workers to bring him food or force him to get some needed sleep. They also felt the need to look out for his personal life as well. Jack had the misfortune to have been married to a wretched barracuda that cheated on him and then divorced him taking most of his money. Needless to say they were all very protective of the handsome doctor. Loretta grabbed the phone and called his office.

"Jack Shpehard" he answered the phone sounding tired.

"Hi Jack, this is Loretta down at the front desk, you have a visitor here, a Kate Austen" Loretta paused when she heard Jack inhale quickly.

"I'll be right down" and then he hung up. Loretta couldn't read the tone of his voice so she wasn't sure if his slight reaction was good or bad.

Jack stood from his desk and immediately headed for the elevators outside his office. When he was in the elevator and moving toward the first floor he couldn't help the conflicted emotions running through him. He was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Kate was here. What would make her look him up? The elevator doors opened and Jack stepped out and headed towards the front waiting area. As if using a magnet his eyes were immediately drawn to the petite brunette sitting in the chairs. He stopped and just stared at her soaking in her beauty. They had only spent three days together four months ago but Jack could still remember the sound of her voice and the feel of her skin and of course the taste of her lips. Jack felt a shiver pass down his spine as the memories flooded him.

Kate suddenly felt him enter the waiting area, she didn't see him but she could feel him. She slowly raised her eyes and her gaze fell on him. Kate felt her breath hitch as they made eye contact. He was just as handsome as she remembered, his eyes were a beautiful rich brown and Kate felt herself being drawn in from all the way across the room. He started towards her and she stood up and nervously clutched her purse to her as if she was afraid she'd be robbed. When he stopped in front of her Kate took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"Kate?" he asked, "What uh, what are you doing here?" Jack asked softly.

"I'm sorry to bother you at work" Kate stammered. "If now is a bad time I can come back" she said.

"No, now isn't bad, it's just I guess I'm surprised to see you. How did you find me?" Jack asked.

"Oh well you said you were a doctor in Chicago so I just checked around for a Jack Shephard and here you are." Kate said nervously, she felt like she might pass out.

"Ok, can I ask why you're here, I mean the last time I saw you was four months ago and you took off without even a goodbye." Jack said his voice curious.

"I need to tell you something Jack." Kate said putting her purse down, "And there's no easy way, so here goes." Kate unzipped her bulky coat, took it off and threw it on the chair. Jack watched her actions and his eyes gently moved down her body where they suddenly came to a sudden halt. His eyes shot back to hers and she met his somewhat shocked and bewildered look.

"I'm pregnant Jack, and the baby is yours"

Ok so what do you think, it's still a little vague but all will be explained as the story continues, and the story can't continue if there are no readers so let me know you're there and hit that little review button.


	2. Chapter 2

Eek thanks so much for the awesome reviews. I'm such an attention tramp that I get all happy when I see the reviews stock up, I'm a dork I know. Ok onto the next chapter. Please forgive any spelling errors it's like 2 am and I'm beginning to see spots

**CHAPTER 2**

Jack could honestly say that he has never been speechless in his life. He had heard the term before, had probably even thought he had been speechless before. However, standing in front of Kate looking at her slightly rounded belly and her voice telling him the baby was his, Jack then truly knew what speechless was. He just stood there frozen to his spot and completely unable to complete a thought let alone attempting a sentence.

Kate looked at him nervously, she couldn't tell what he was thinking and that was freaking her out. She waited for him to say something, anything, even yell at her at this point. She watched as his eyes seemed to bore into her stomach. She leaned over and grabbed her purse and coat, and gently touched his arm.

"Uh, is there somewhere we could talk, somewhere private maybe?" she asked him softly. "Jack?" she asked and he finally snapped out of his shock.

"Yeah, private ok. My office is private." He made no attempt to move and Kate couldn't help smiling.

"Can you take me there? I don't know the way." She said teasing him lightly.

Jack shook his head trying to clear his head, "Yeah, this way. Can I carry your things for you?" he asked suddenly.

"No, thank you though. I think I can manage" she said giving him another nervous smile. Jack felt himself getting lost in that smile. He had loved the way when she smiled her whole face would light up. They entered the elevator and Jack hit the button for his floor. As he did this his mind tugged him back four months ago when the last time he saw her was.

_Jack awoke and looked at the alarm clock, he groaned when he saw that it was 9:00am. He had to get to the conference at ten. He rolled over and saw the beautiful brunette curled up next him naked under the sheets. He smiled as he watched her peacefully sleep. They had only met three days ago but they had spent most of that time together. His smile widened when he thought about how most of that time together was spent in bed. He had never been into one night stands, but there was something about her. Something that had made him ask her to stay with him for the entire three days. He gently brushed a curl off her forehead and admired her beauty. Though they didn't know each other well, Jack had felt like a strong connection had been formed. He had to go to this stupid conference being he had skipped all the other ones opting to be with her. When he returned he would talk to her about the relationship. Jack wanted to continue it, not just the sexual factor but everything. In the short time together he had fallen for her._

_He reluctantly crawled from the bed and grabbed a quick shower. When he was dressed and ready he sat on the bed and kissed her shoulder gently. He watched as a lazy smile appeared on her lips and her eyes sleepily fluttered open._

"_Hi" she said with a sweet smile. She stretched and Jack chuckled at how she reminded him of a cat._

"_Hey" he said, leaning down and kissing her gently. Her lips were soft and pliable and she opened her mouth to him easily. Jack felt himself losing control and broke away from her with a groan. "I have to go" _

_Kate looked down at him and realized he was all dressed. "No fair" she said with a playful smile. "You have way too many clothes on"_

"_That is because I have to go to the conference meeting this morning." Jack said lightly stroking her cheek. _

_Kate pouted, "Why, you skipped all the others" she said tugging on his tie bringing him closer to her._

"_That's exactly why, the hospital paid for me to come out here and this last one is where they take attendance of everyone. I should at least pretend to have participated. Don't worry it won't be long, an hour tops. So you just relax and order some breakfast and I will be back before you know it" he leaned down and kissed her again. He reluctantly pulled away and headed for the door. He looked back at her as she was propped on her side watching him. The sheets were wrapped around her seductively, her beautiful curls hung wild and free and her gorgeous eyes were sparkling at him with mischief. "I'll be back soon, ok?" he said one more time._

_Kate gave him a dazzling smile, "You better be."_

With that Jack had walked out the door and hadn't seen her again before today. He was pulled from his thoughts of the elevator bell informing him he was on his floor. He exited and she followed watching him from the corner of her eye. She still couldn't read his reaction but the fact that he had offered to carry her purse and coat had to be a good sign right? He had been so quiet on the elevator she could swear you could hear a pin drop.

She followed him into the office where he closed the door. He gestured for her to hand him her jacket and purse and he hung them on the coat rack near the door. She stood in front of him and waited for him to turn around and look at her again. When he did Kate noticed his eyed traveled down her body and straight to her tummy. She was wearing a form fitting sweater so the shape of her belly was visible through the fabric. She watched him shake his head slightly and then he was looking at her face.

"Please sit," he moved to pull the chair out and he offered his arm to help her sit. Kate smiled softly at that. She hadn't gotten to the size yet where she needed help getting up and down but she appreciated the offer. "Can I get you something to drink? Soda? Water?" Jack asked.

"Water would be nice" she said softly. She watched as he walked over to a mini fridge in the corner and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Glass?" he asked.

Kate nearly laughed at how strange this was all playing out. Jack hadn't even mentioned the baby to her yet. "No the bottle is fine" she smiled at him graciously as he handed it to her. She watched as he sat on his desk and looked at her. Before she could say anything he had moved from the desk and grabbed the other chair and moved it so he was facing her. He was really making her nervous.

"So?" he said, eyes staying once again to her stomach.

"Jack before you say anything please let me." She watched as he nodded at her. "First I'm sorry about springing this on you out of nowhere. I just didn't think it was something I should tell over the phone. I know you don't have to believe me Jack, but the baby is yours. I mean you have every right to question me, I mean who believes a woman who would stay with a man she doesn't even know for three days?" she said softly.

Jack frowned and reached out and gently grasped her hand in his. He startled lightly as the electricity ran through their hands, it was still present between them.

"Hey, I was there too you know. It wasn't one-sided I was involved just as much as you" he didn't like that she put herself down. Kate raised her eyes to his and when she saw the serious look in his eyes she felt them well with tears. She quickly dabbed at her eyes before they could fall. Stupid hormones. She took a deep breath and spoke again.

"I'm four months along; I didn't even know it until I was three months in. I have always had sporadic periods" she blushed, even though he was a doctor it was still awkward. "So when I missed two it didn't really bother me. Then the third month I suddenly gained a bunch of weight at once, followed with morning sickness. I went to my doctor and well that's how I ended here." She said lightly stroking her stomach. "As soon as I found out I started searching for you. I found you and then just waited to raise enough money to come out here." She said nervously.

"Kate, I would have paid your way here, or I could've come to you" Jack said softly.

"Well, like I said I didn't want to tell you over the phone" Kate said avoiding his eyes. She was a proud woman and even if she had told him and he offered money to pay for the trip she still would have turned him down. "Anyway, I came to tell you and to also let you know I'm willing to do one of those tests that you can do to find out the paternity." Kate said.

"An Amniocentesis ?" Jack asked.

"Yeah that, I thought you would probably want to clear this up right away. Uh Jack I also want you to know I'm not here looking for anything. I just thought you had the right to know and to know that I am keeping the baby." She said sounding like she said she was afraid of his reaction.

Jack looked at her curiously. "Kate, I want to take care of my child. You might not be looking for me to but it's my right to care for him or her."

Kate let out the breath she was holding, things were awkward but they were going well. "We can figure it all out later" she said. "After that amnio test thing"

"Kate those tests can be dangerous, they really don't recommend them unless there is a worry of a health problem" Jack explained. He looked at her and made a decision, a leap of faith in which he hoped he didn't fall flat on his face. "We can figure out paternity after the baby if you want. Just to let you know, I believe you when you say it's mine."

"You do?" Kate could feel her lower lip starting to tremble.

"Well, four months ago we were together a lot and pregnancy was a possibility. There were a couple times I know I didn't use protection" he said nervously rubbing the back of his head. Kate blushed as she remembered the times that they had been so revved up for each other they had just made love with no thought of protection or consequences. Well it looks like the consequences have arrived Kate thought ruefully. "You've seen a doctor, everything is ok? No problems?" Jack asked.

"Yeah my OBGYN says I'm doing great. I was worried that not knowing for as long as I did would be a problem but she said that can happen." Kate said. Jack watched her and Kate could see the internal struggle going on behind his eyes.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jack asked his tone nervous.

"Sure" Kate said bracing herself for something bad.

"Can I, uh can I touch your stomach?" Jack asked.

Kate smiled, "Yes of course" she started to stand and he quickly leapt to help her up. They were face to face and closer than they had been the whole time since she arrived. Kate breathed in and she could smell him. It was a delicious mixture of cologne and just him. She watched as he gently placed his hand on her stomach. She couldn't help the tears that slipped out when he looked up at her with a look of awe and amazement and broke into one of the most beautiful smiles she had ever seen.

Ok gang you all know the drill just hit that little button marked review and thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

I hope this actually downloads, won't download my documents so I apologize if this takes forever to get to you. Thanks so much for the awesome reviews, they make me happy and motivated to right more so make sure you keep that in mind J Ok so on with the update.

**CHAPTER 3**

Jack had always wanted to get married and have kids. He had thought his chance came with Sarah , but it turned out she didn't want his children just his money. He had given up hope of ever having a family. However standing here with his hand on Kate Austen's belly, the belly holding his baby, he felt hope. Her stomach was rounded perfectly and his hand covered the bump perfectly. Not only was he feeling his unborn child wrapped safely in the womb, but he was also touching the woman who had haunted his dreams for the last four months. He smiled and looked up at her. He was surprised to see her eyes filled with tears and he watched as one slipped down her cheek. Jack immediately jumped to action.

"I'm sorry" he said reluctantly pulling his hand from her belly. He reached over and grabbed a tissue from his desk and handed it to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry, please just tell me what I did." Jack had never handled himself well around crying women, the minute they started to cry he always felt like a Grade A jerk even when it had nothing to do with him. He watched as Kate dabbed her eyes and looked at him.

"No, no everything's ok. It's just these blasted hormones, I swear I cry at a drop of a hat." She said with a little chuckle. She felt Jack leading her back to the chair and she took the seat gratefully. She looked up at his concerned and slightly frightened expression and she couldn't help the little giggle that escaped her.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"I'm sorry it's just this whole thing is so surreal. I have to be honest with you Jack; I had no clue how this was going to work out. I thought you wouldn't remember me, or would deny the baby. Only in my wildest fantasies did I think you would react the way you are. I mean you're being so kind and you actually seem to be happy about the baby. You took the news especially well, then I cry and you look like you're ready to bolt. I'm sorry it just caught me off guard." Kate said. She looked up at him and saw him looking at her with a serious expression.

"Not remember you? Kate how could I ever forget you?" Jack asked her incredulously.

Kate smiled at him softly, "I just thought it might not have meant as much to you as it did me." She said blushing and looking away. Jack moved down to kneel in front of her and Kate felt her heart leap in her chest. She had wanted to touch him so many times since she first saw him and with him so close to her she was afraid she might jump him.

"Kate it meant a lot to me, I came back to the room and you were gone. You left Kate, not me" he said gently. "Why did you take off without even saying goodbye?" he asked.

Kate looked away from him, "I have my reasons" Kate said almost stoically. Jack realized she wasn't going to share the information with him so he backed off not wanting to push her too hard.

"Look I am happy about the baby ok?" Jack said.

"I still think we should still take that test." Kate said softly. "That way you would know for sure"

Jack sighed, "Kate, it's your body and it's your choice what you want to do. I'm just trying to tell you that sometimes those tests can be dangerous for you and the baby."

"Yeah but people get them, you said they use them to check for illnesses, so we can do it too." Kate said stubbornly. It wasn't that she wanted to endanger the baby, but she wanted to have proof for him that this baby was his. He seemed to take her on her word but Kate wanted solid evidence. It was important to her that Jack didn't doubt her. She wasn't sure why it was so important but it was.

"Look, we can discuss all of this later ok?" he said moving back to his chair. "Uh I'm actually off for the rest of the day, you caught me before I left" he said with a smile. "Why don't you let me bring you to your hotel and then we can grab some dinner and we can discuss some things ok?" Jack asked.

Kate smiled, "Well, I was actually planning on looking for a hotel when I got in, but I ended up coming here right away. Maybe you can recommend one that isn't too expensive?" Kate asked.

Jack smiled, "I know just the place, I'll take you there now." He helped her up and started to lead her out the door when he suddenly stopped.

"Kate where's your luggage?" Kate stopped and her hand shot to her forehead with a smack.

"Oh god, I left it with the cabbie that is waiting for me with the meter running. I told him to wait because I wasn't sure you'd even be here. It's going to cost me a fortune." Kate said slightly panicking. Jack grabbed his coat and briefcase.

"Don't worry about it Kate, it will be fine. We'll take care of it when we get down there ok?" his voice was soothing and Kate nodded. They rode the elevator down and Jack could see Kate anxiously chewing on her bottom lip, her mind was probably still on the taxi situation. When they arrived on the main floor Jack led Kate to the front desk where he signed out his last orders and said goodbye to Lorraine. Lorraine couldn't help notice that Kate was still with him and looked rather pale and nervous. Her eyes also noticed the bump she had slightly pushing on her sweater. Lorraine shot Jack a curious look, but he was too busy helping the young woman put her coat on to notice. She watched as Jack put his own coat on and led Kate out his hand securely on the lower part of her back. The rumor mill would surely be buzzing after this Lorraine thought ruefully.

Jack led Kate out the door and steeled himself for the harsh wind that cut at him. He saw a taxi sitting to the side and Kate started to walk to it. The cabbie stepped out when he noticed Kate walking towards him.

"Hi" she said nervously. "I'm sorry to make you wait this long" she apologized.

"Eh it's fine" the cabbie said nonchalantly. "You need your bags?" he asked glancing in Jack's direction.

"Yes I do thank you" Kate said. The cabbie popped the trunk and Kate went to grab her bags but was cut off by Jack who already was grabbing them. She gave him a look but he just smiled back at her. She leaned in through the door and took a look at the meter. If a person could go into labor at four months Kate feared now would be the time because she almost had a heart attack. She opened her wallet and saw the money she had. She pulled the majority out to pay for the cab and realized she would barely have any money to get a room. She had the money in the side pocket but that was saved for the plane ticket back. She was pulled from her revelry when she heard the trunk slam and the cabbie started to get in the car.

"Here you go" she said handing him the cash.

"Kate, I got it" Jack called pulling out his wallet.

"I already paid Jack." Kate said her back arching slightly. She knew it was stupid but she didn't want to seem like a free loader her first day here.

"Kate, I could have paid it wasn't a problem." Jack said sounding slightly annoyed. Suddenly Kate was pulled into a memory.

"_Jack, this is your room and you've been paying for all the meals so far. Let me buy dinner tonight please?" Kate was standing behind him the white bed sheet wrapped around her body as she tried to stop him from pulling out his wallet to pay for the dinner that would be arriving soon._

"_Kate the room is free, now I have dinner covered, you can grab the next meal." Jack said trying to sound diplomatic._

"_That's what you said at lunch, Jack. I'm paying and that's it." She said almost stomping her foot like a little kid._

_Jack sighed, "Kate you're my guest. I asked you to stay so I will buy the meals ok?" he was getting frustrated at her stubborn streak of pride._

_Kate glared at him and then got a wicked idea. She moved close to him and gently pressed her body against his. She was wrapped in the sheet and him in a towel. She ran her hand up his shoulder dancing her fingertips across his skin. She ran her fingers through his hair and leaned in and ran her lips across his neck._

"_That isn't going to work Kate." He said. Her answer was to drop her sheet a few seconds later the towel fell to the carpet as well. When the room service had arrived, they were in the bed under the covers. Kate had Jack so needy he didn't even hear the knock. She jumped up and grabbed the robe at the end of the bed and grabbed her money. She paid for dinner that night. She also happily finished what she had started with Jack as well._

Kate felt the blush reach her cheeks as she remembered the love making that had followed dinner that night. She looked over at Jack who was grabbing her bags and looking slightly annoyed. Kate sighed; she really didn't want to fight with him. She especially didn't want to when things had been going so well between them before. He led her to his car and she was happy to get in and get the heat flowing, she was freezing. When Jack got in he noticed her lips gently shaking as her teeth chattered. Jack quickly set the heat to full blast and reached in the back seat where he grabbed a blanket that he covered her with.

"You carry a blanket in your backseat?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey don't knock it, when you have your car break down when it's thirteen below then we'll talk." He said with a smirk. Kate just smiled back and snuggled into the blanket waiting to get warm.

"Thank you" she said tugging on the blanket, "So you can find me a cheap hotel?" she asked.

"Don't worry I know just the place." Jack said as he pulled out onto the busy Chicago street.

Kate had never been to Chicago, so she looked out the window watching the skyscrapers pass by her. She recognized some of the places from movies and television shows. She was so entranced that she didn't even realize that Jack had pulled into a neighborhood. He pulled his car up to the curb and Kate looked at him confused. She looked around and saw some buildings but nothing that looked like a hotel.

"Jack, where are we?" she asked.

"My place" Jack answered.

Ok so that's it please hit that little review button and make my life happy J. Let's hope will let me download.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok gang here's the next chapter and once again thanks for the awesome reviews! Also to avoid confusion the flashbacks are not in chronological order they will jump all over the timeframe of the days Jack and Kate were together. I will try to give an idea in the flashback around when it was taking place.

**CHAPTER 4**

Kate watched slightly stunned as Jack popped the trunk and got out of the car. His place, thought Kate feeling dumbfounded. She jumped from the car and saw him grabbing her bags.

"Jack, I told you a hotel, not your place." she said with annoyance in her tone.

"Kate," he said slamming the trunk, "It's below freezing and the sun is about to go down so it's gonna get worse. You can stand out here all you want, or you can come in with me and your bags and we can talk inside. You know where the heat is running." Jack said, quietly dreading the argument he knew they were going to have. She was so blasted stubborn but he wasn't going to give in. She was going to stay with him at least for tonight.

Kate wasn't sure how to feel, at that minute her pride was kicking in but so was her slowly decreasing body temperature as she stood in the harsh cold. Sighing and knowing she was defeated she rolled her eyes and followed him inside. They approached the door and Kate saw the doorman hold the door for them. He was a nice looking man probably in his sixties and held himself very distinguished.

"Hey Bernard" Jack said to the man giving him a friendly nod as they entered the warm lobby. Bernard closed the door and turned back to Jack.

"Good to see you Dr. Shephard. I think this may be the first time I've seen you while the sun is still out" the doorman said with a teasing grin and Jack chuckled. Bernard noticed Kate and nodded tipping his hat to her. Kate couldn't help but smile back at the older man, he was very friendly and she felt immediately at ease near him.

"Good evening Miss" he said with a smile.

"Bernard, this is Kate, Kate this is Bernard. Now don't let his looks fool you, he may look like a mean ogre but deep down he's just like a puppy" Jack said shooting the man a grin. Bernard definitely was someone Kate would never describe as an ogre. She giggled when Jack said it earning a grin from both Bernard and Jack.

"Don't listen to the crabby doctor Miss, he can't be trusted." Bernard said in a loud whisper as if telling her a secret. Jack grabbed his chest in mock pain.

"Bernard, you wound me" Jack said. He looked at Kate, "You see what I have to deal with day in and out, the abuse from this guy." Both Jack and Bernard smiled and Jack affectionately patted him on the shoulder.

Jack started to lead Kate to the elevators when he turned to the doorman, "Hey Bernard, we'll probably be ordering in tonight so we'll probably be expecting a delivery person."

Bernard rolled his eyes, "I swear boy for a doctor you have the worst eating habits. You better hope Rose doesn't see you bringing in junk food or she's going to have a fit."

Jack chuckled, "I'll try to be discrete" The elevators dinged and Jack gestured for Kate to walk in ahead of him. As the doors closed he pushed the number 4 button. Kate looked over at him and smiled temporarily forgetting she was supposed to be annoyed with him.

"I like Bernard, he's sweet." Kate said. "How long has he been working here?"

"Actually Bernard and his wife own the building" he said noticing Kate's slightly shocked expression. "He and his wife realized they were very bored when they became retired so they bought the building and rent it out to lost souls like myself." He said with a smirk.

"Lost souls?" Kate asked curiously.

"Yeah, Rose tends to baby me. I'd probably be dead if she didn't make sure I was eating and sleeping with all the long hours I keep at the hospital. She tends to nag at me but it's only cause she cares. I think she'll be happy when I finally settle down with someone and have kids." Jack grew quiet for a second as his eyes fell on Kate's stomach which was concealed by her heavy jacket. Kate blushed lightly when she noticed his gaze.

"Looks like you're halfway there" she said quietly and their eyes met in a meaningful gaze. Jack felt himself being tugged into her eyes and leaned towards her slightly when the elevator dinged announcing their arrival on the fourth floor. He quickly stepped away and led Kate down the hall to his apartment.

To cover the slight tension he started talking, "Bernard isn't the actual doorman, there are a couple, but he does it Tuesday and Thursday nights when Rose is at her book club. I don't think he enjoys being by himself. He also handles a lot of the repairs in the building as well." Jack stopped in front of a wooden door with the number 16 on it; he placed her bags on the ground as he unlocked the door.

"It doesn't seem like there are a lot of apartments" Kate said looking around her.

"The building is five stories the bottom floor has the lobby and Rose and Bernard live down there. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors have four apartments each and the 5th floor is used for storage. The apartments are all a little bigger than normal as well." Jack said as the door swung open. He grabbed her bags and led her into the apartment. Kate noticed that is was large for a regular apartment. To the right there was a kitchen area that held a small table that could hold two. Past the kitchen entrance there was a hallway going to the right where Kate assumed the bed and bath were. Straight ahead was a living room with a couch, loveseat, coffee table and entertainment system. Kate looked around and noticed that the walls were a plan white, the carpet was a light grey and his furniture was a dark blue. It was very plain and simple.

As if reading her mind, Jack cleared his throat. "It isn't much to look at I know. I just have never had a lot of time to do anything with it."

"No, I like it" Kate said, "Sometimes less is best."

"Here let me take your coat." Jack said. Kate unzipped it and he gently took it off her shoulder and hung it in the closet near the front door. Kate stopped to watch him just taking him in, not quite believing this was all happening. She was so entranced by him she didn't notice when he closed the closet and turned quickly. He ran right into her.

Jack quickly grabbed her shoulders to balance her. He gave her a quick once over relieved he didn't bump her stomach even if they didn't hit each other hard. He raised his eyes and once again met hers and was lost. He noticed a curl had draped over her forehead and he gently brushed it behind her ear. He was suddenly brought back into a memory.

"_Stay" he muttered as he buried his face into her neck nibbling at her gently._

"_Jack" she said giggling. "It's four in the afternoon. I've been here all night and most of the day, I have to go to work."_

"_Call in sick" Jack said working his lips down towards her chest. He looked up at her with a mischievous grin. "I'm a doctor I can give you note and everything."_

_Kate giggled and stroked his face. "I gotta go" she said softly though not wanting to._

_Jack maneuvered himself on top of her and Kate sighed as her body was pleasantly pushed further into the bedding. He rested his weight on his elbows and looked down into her beautiful face. "Don't leave" he asked softly and Kate felt her resolve crumbling._

"_Jack it's a Saturday night do you know how much money I can make in tips, it's the best night of the week." Kate said._

"_Please" Jack said stroking her shoulder with his talented fingers. _

"_For how long, Jack?" Kate's voice grew serious. "How long do you want me to stay?"_

"_For as long as you can stand me." Jack said with a small smirk._

"_This isn't a one night stand is it?" Kate asked him nibbling on her lip nervously. _

"_Not if I have any say in it" Jack said looking her in the eye. Kate felt the heat rise to her face as she blushed and a giddy smile came over her face._

"_Well there is this girl named Roxie who owes me big time, she might be willing to cover my shift tonight." Kate said hoping the other girl would come through for her._

"_And what about tomorrow?"_ _Jack asked with a wicked grin._

_Kate's mouth dropped at that. "Tomorrow, as in you and I are still going to be here tomorrow."_

"_Well hopefully in bed" Jack said with a tiny smirk._

_Kate reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed her lips lightly against his. "I've never done this before. I mean the whole going home with a stranger, and definitely not the whole going home with a stranger and spending numerous days with him."_

"_Would it be wrong if I told you I was glad you made an exception for me?" Jack asked lightly._

_Kate giggled and ran her hands across his shoulders, "Well it so happens that I do have the day off tomorrow." She sobered slightly and looked up at Jack. "I want to stay."_

_Jack gently tucked a loose strand of her hair and gently tucked it behind her ear. "Then stay" he said with a smile. Soon their mouths were pressed together and they were each in heaven._

Jack quickly shook the memory away because he knew it would only lead to painful questions and he had enough on his mind at the moment. Questioning Kate on why she left him was not something he was sure he wanted to deal with at the moment. He steadied Kate and flashed her a smile and then quickly moved away. He gestured towards the couch.

"Uh why don't we sit on the couch and talk" he said leading her over.

Kate suddenly remembered why she was supposed to be annoyed with Jack and sat down eager to get the conversation over with.

"Kate just hear me out ok? I know you wanted to stay at a hotel, I get that, but I also know you don't have a lot of money." he smiled sheepishly when she looked at him curiously. "I noticed the look on your face when you saw how much you owed the cabbie, and you pulled more out of your wallet then you seemed to have left." Kate started to argue when Jack held his hand up and went on. "Anyway, around here with the amount of money I'm guessing you have, the only hotels you find are going to be slums. The rent by the hour kind of rooms" he said. Kate looked down knowing he was right and hating it. She hated not being able to care for herself. Why did she have to forget the damn taxi was waiting on her? She knew the answer to that too, the minute she saw Jack all rational thinking went right out the door. "So I would rather have you stay the night here, I have a nice guest bedroom with its own bath and everything, then at one of those places. Then I think tomorrow we need to figure out some things about us and the baby."

"What kind of things" Kate asked curiously.

"Well" Jack said seriously. "I meant it when I said I wanted to be a part of this child's life. I don't want to just be the name on the child support check; I want to be there every step and help raise this baby. In order to do that I think it would be best if I lived near you and the baby. So that leaves us two choices. I can move out to Vegas or you can move here to Chicago."

"But your job is out here Jack?" Kate asked as her emotions whirled around her. Raise the baby with Jack, she had hoped and dreamed for this kind of outcome but it was almost too hard to believe.

"I'm sure I can get a job out there if I need to." Jack said with a smile. Kate stood and began to pace as she tried to put her thoughts in order. Jack had more to lose by coming out there than she did. He would have to give up his friends, his career, and his apartment. She didn't even like Vegas all that much. Her apartment was a dump and the only friends she had were one or two girls down at the club she worked at. She thought of her bartending job, as soon as she started really showing she wasn't going to be able to stay on, they wanted skinny and sexy not fat and pregnant. Also if she got out of Vegas she could get away from some of the trouble that had been following her. She could get a fresh start in Chicago. She could find a new job, raise the baby in a better place than Vegas and be near Jack.

She stopped her pacing and looked towards him. "I think, I think I'd like to stay in Chicago."

Ok there it is folks hope to have another update up in a day or two


	5. Chapter 5

Ok here it is the next chapter and you all thought I forgot you :) Some sexual references in this chapter so please be warned.

**CHAPTER 5**

Jack looked at Kate somewhat stunned. "I'm sorry what did you say?" he asked standing slowly.

Kate smiled at him shyly. "I said I think I would like to come to Chicago. You have a great life here and mine in Vegas, well let's just say I have no problem coming out here." Kate said.

Jack grinned and before he knew it he enveloped Kate in his arms and hugged her close. Kate wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back. She had missed this, the smell of him, the feel of him and just the general feeling of being in his arms. Jack pulled back slowly but kept his arms around her. She tilted her head to look at him and their lips were just inches apart. They both flashed to the same memory.

"_This is insane!" Kate giggled wrapped tightly in Jack's arms._

"_Do I need to remind you we're in Vegas and for us to be doing something to be considered insane, well we'd have to be pretty sick" Jack said with a chuckle._

"_Jack we've only known each other for a couple of hours" she said consulting her watch. "And now you have me dancing on a ledge of a building!" she exclaimed._

"_Oh so we're only like 40 stories up" Jack said turning her and dipping her causing her to squeal and hold him tighter. _

_Kate buried her face in his neck, she knew that they were pretty safe as long as neither one tripped too badly. The ledge was wide and they were closer to the roof side than the drop to their death side. _

"_I can so lose my job for this" Kate muttered though she was thoroughly enjoying herself._

"_Nah you're off the clock and if anyone asks you were helping a helpless tourist who went crazy and brought you to the roof." Jack said._

_Kate smiled and laid her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the beautiful view of the lit up Las Vegas. _

"_It's so beautiful" she said._

_Jack rested his chin on her head and they swayed gently to the music playing from the outdoor concert on the street below them. It had started out with Kate saying she wished she could go to the concert and before she knew it Jack had her on the roof. She lifted her head up._

"_Thank you" she said softly and she watched as he smiled a little._

"_Well I don't know if I'd thank me it's not like I actually got us into the concert" he sad with a smirk._

_Kate gently ran her fingers along the bottom of his hair and she felt him tighten his grip on her. "It doesn't matter, I'm happier to be here." She tilted her head up and their eyes met. Jack leaned in and Kate waited in anticipation as their lips met in a gentle and sweet kiss. It eventually deepened and Jack had eased her mouth open and their tongues were dueling for control. Kate moaned and pressed against him harder. She couldn't believe this was happening. She didn't know him but she needed and wanted him. It was true they had only known each other for a couple hours and he could be a crazy serial killer, but Kate didn't care. She had never felt the way she did with any other man. He made her feel special and precious even when just grabbing the door for her or walking with his hand on her back. Suddenly he broke away and Kate let out a moan of protest. She opened her eyes and gave him a confused look._

_Jack shot her a smile and looked down. Kate followed his gaze and was shocked to see they had moved precariously close to the edge. _

"_Perhaps we should continue this elsewhere" he said with a wink._

_He jumped down and pulled her down after him. As soon as her feet hit the ground she wrapped her arms around him and crushed her lips to his. They kissed passionately for awhile only pulling apart at times to take a breath. Kate let herself go and felt wonderful._

"_Make love to me" she whispered in his ear and she felt him pull her tighter._

"_My room isn't far" he said while nibbling on her neck._

"_Too far" Kate said already working on the buttons on his shirt. "Right here" she said before kissing him again._

_Jack felt his whole body hum at her suggestion. Jack was not a one night stand kind of guy. He was rarely a sleep together on the first date guy either. But something about Kate Austen made him throw all his conformities out the window._

"_Are you sure" he mumbled against her lips. "I have a nice bed"_

"_We'll use the bed next" Kate said and they both noted the fact that there would definitely be more than one time together. "Lay on the ledge" Kate said pulling his shirt off of him._

_Jack pulled away and looked at the ledge and then back to her. "And you called me insane for dancing on it." Soon he was on the ledge and Kate laid atop him her leg dangling over the ledge. They were naked._

"_You sure" Jack asked looking into her eyes._

"_Absolutely" She said. With that the two made love for the first time on a ledge of a hotel overlooking the bright city lights of Las Vegas._

Kate lifted her chin and knew he was going to kiss her and she waited for his sweet kiss. Unfortunately a banging at the door caused them to jump apart.

"Uh let me get that." Jack said running his hand through his short cropped hair. Kate watched him go and the memory of the rooftop in Vegas caused her to blush. She rubbed her belly, she had always suspected that was where the baby was conceived. They had used no protection and their lovemaking had been perfect.

She watched as Jack opened the door and suddenly was being hugged by a young blonde. Kate felt herself stiffen. Did he have a girlfriend, she hadn't even asked.

"Oh thank god you're home" the girl exclaimed and Kate could hear an Australian accent. "The damn pipe burst again and I can't stop it. Charlie isn't home yet and I think Aaron and I are going to drown."

It was then that Kate noticed the woman had only hugged Jack with one arm because in her other was a baby.

"Ok, ok I'll fix it." He glanced back at Kate and saw her nervously chewing on her lip. "Claire this is Kate, Kate this is Claire. Why don't you stay here with Aaron? I'll be right back." Jack said giving Kate a smile. Kate smiled back warmly.

Soon Jack was gone and Claire and Kate were alone in the apartment. Kate wasn't sure if she should say something but Claire beat it to her.

"I have this pipe under my sink and Bernard is supposed to replace it but the part isn't getting her until tomorrow, so of course it's breaking as much as possible before it gets replaced." Claire said rolling her eyes. Still not sure what to think of the girl or her relation to Jack, Kate found herself liking her.

"Oh my gosh I'm being so rude. Like Jack said I'm Claire and you're Kate right?" Claire asked. Kate nodded with a smile. "Well Kate I'd like to introduce you to Aaron." Claire said moving her arms up to show Kate the baby. Kate smiled at the sweet child who was sound asleep. Kate unconsciously moved her hand to her own belly. The gesture did not go past Claire who looked at Kate her eyes dancing. "Oh you're pregnant" she said excitedly.

Kate smiled proudly, "Yeah, four months along now."

Claire grinned, "That's the best time you're morning sickness is finishing off, you have a stomach but it's not in the way, which is important cause that's when your hormones kick in" Claire said giving her a wicked smile. Kate blushed she had read enough books to know her hormones would become activated and she would want sex. She had always skipped those parts because she didn't think it would matter. However being this close to Jack, she felt the blush rise to her cheeks at her thoughts.

"Oh don't be embarrassed, I'm sorry" Claire said touching her arm. "I'm kind of blunt so I take some getting used to. Are you moving in the building?"

"Uh no I'm just here to see Jack" Kate said. She noticed Claire's gaze go back to her pregnant stomach. Kate felt slightly panicked. She had no clue if Jack wanted his friends to know he was going to be a dad. She didn't want to come right out and say yeah its Jack's if he didn't want her to. She was saved by Jack coming back into the room. However he was soaking wet and his white dress shirt was sticking to him deliciously. Kate quickly averted her eyes and looked at the wall.

"Ok Claire, I got if plugged just don't use that sink until Bernard gets that new piece in. I put towels down and got most of it cleaned up so it shouldn't leak through into the apartment below you" Jack said.

"Thanks Jack you're a life-saver." Claire said walking past him. "Kate it's so nice to meet you. I hope to see you again" she walked past Jack and gently patted her stomach and winked at him. Jack chuckled and let Claire out.

He looked back at Kate who was looking everywhere but him. He sighed; she must feel awkward about what happened before Claire arrived. If it was making her so uncomfortable, Jack decided to back off and give her room. He wouldn't try to kiss her or anything again.

"I'm going to change, why don't you look over the take-out menus and we can figure out what to get for dinner." Jack said giving her a small smile. Kate looked at him and quickly dragged her glance away. Jack felt a slight prick of hurt. What he didn't know was Kate wasn't avoiding him because she didn't want him but because she did want him. Badly.

Ok there it is hit the little review button and all that jazz.


	6. Chapter 6

All right everyone I need your opinions, I've been thinking of where this story is going and right now it has a T rating I believe. I was wondering if anyone would want it upgraded to a M rating and there would be a little more smut. So it's up to you guys so please review and let me know keep it at T and innuendo or M and have smut. However you have all been good little reviewers and patient with the slow updates so you will all have a little reward in this chapter.

**CHAPTER 6**

Jack walked into the bedroom and Kate went to look at the takeout menus. She was having problems focusing on the thought of food when she still had the image of Jack with his wet clothes sticking to his body. She decided Chinese sounded good and she went over to the bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Jack? How does Chinese sound?" she called through the door.

Jack was in a towel and looking for dry clothes while he was wondering how to handle Kate when he got back outside. She seemed kind of upset with him and that was the last thing he wanted. He had gotten her to agree to spend the night here and things had been going really well. He heard Kate knock on the door and say something but he couldn't understand what she said. He glanced around the room and grabbed his jeans and quickly threw them on. He answered the door to find Kate outside of it.

Kate glanced up and nearly swallowed her tongue. Jack stood before her in nothing but a pair of jeans and his skin was damp. Kate's eyes traveled the expanse of his chest. Her stomach flip flopped and she felt the heat rush through her body as she remembered touching, kissing and licking the exact chest that was now in front of her. Her eyes moved down his body to his jeans that wrapped around his body nicely. Kate bit her lip and held the whimper that almost escaped her lips.

"Kate?" Jack asked. He had said her name twice and wondered if she was ok. She looked up at him and Jack was blown away by the pure lust in her eyes.

"_Jack" Kate moaned holding him tight to her. They had just finished another round of amazing love making and Jack had collapsed on top of her. Kate lazily ran her hands up and down his back lightly scratching her nails across his skin. She was holding him with her legs and arms and had no interest in letting him go. He had tried to move off of her and she was having none of it. _

_Jack leaned up on his elbows, "I don't want to suffocate you" he said as he brushed his nose against her._

"_I want you to stay where you are. You feel good." Kate said stoking his hair._

"_Compromise" Jack said with a soft smile. He rolled onto his side but kept Kate connected to him. "How's that?" he asked rubbing his fingers along her shoulder._

"_Good" Kate said as she snuggled in close to his chest. After a few minutes of silence Kate spoke. "Jack what's going on?" _

"_What do you mean?" Jack asked as his finger moved to play with her hair._

"_We barely know each other and yet we've spent two and a half days in bed together, how is that possible?" Kate asked._

"_I don't know Kate but from the first minute I saw you I wanted you. I can't seem to get enough of you either." Jack said thoughtfully._

"_Same for me" Kate whispered. "When we're not making love I'm thinking about us making love. Is that deprived?'_

_Jack chucked amused, "No I'm thinking the same thing with you. I can't explain it Kate"_

_Kate buried her face in his neck. "I don't want this to end" Jack couldn't help but hear the sad tone her voice took._

"_It doesn't have to" Jack said tightening his grip on her. He meant it too, they could figure something out they could be together he'd find a way._

"_All good things end" Kate said and Jack saw a sad and almost desperate look in her eyes. Jack looked at her and wanted nothing but to make that look go away. He pulled her tight and pressed his lips against hers and she kissed him back hungrily. He pulled away and to his delight the desperate look was now one of lust. He should be surprised that he was ready for her so soon after just making love but he wasn't. She was capable of making his body do many surprising things. She pressed her mouth against him and he lost himself in the kiss. She pushed him back so she was on top of him and they made love again._

Kate looked at him and couldn't tear her eyes away from him. In Vegas she had been addicted to him not wanting to be away from him at all. She was shocked that now four months later he still invoked the attraction that was burning in her. She had never wanted to leave that hotel room that day but she had panicked and thought she was doing the best for the both of them. Packing up her things had been horrific and the tears had streamed down her face. Somehow within those three days Kate had fallen in love with Jack. When she had found out she was pregnant she was thrilled and the thought that the baby was his had made her so happy. Now she was standing in his apartment and he was happy about the baby and she was going to live in Chicago close to him. She was starting new away from Vegas and away from the drama. She was being given a second chance at life and she was so excited for the possibilities.

That was how she felt, but when she saw him half naked those thoughts flew out her head and were replaced by more base thoughts. Thoughts that were making her body tingle in anticipation.

Jack watched as Kate's eyes looked him over almost hungrily and he felt all the logical thoughts about not pushing her were long forgotten. Jack stepped forward and gently reached his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Kate gasped as she found herself in his embrace and her hands resting on his bare chest. Kate looked up and saw the hungry look in his eyes and she was gone. She tilted her head up and Jack's lips came crashing down on hers. She wrapped her arms around him and sighed in pleasure when she felt his tongue lightly lick her lips looking for entrance. She granted him access gladly and moaned as their kissing became deeper and more passionate. Jack gently moved her against the doorframe and pressed his body against her. He was kissing the woman who had been the cause of many of his dreams and now the mother of his unborn child and he was happy. The happiest he had been in the four months since she walked out of his life.

"I can't believe this" Kate whispered as Jack dragged his lips down her collarbone. "I can't believe we've only been together a couple of hours and it's beginning again. I want you" she whimpered.

"I know, I don't know what it is but I'm not going to argue it" Jack said moving his mouth back up to take her luscious lips. He was just about to maneuver her into the bedroom when there was another knock at the door.

Ok so don't forget let me know if I should change the rating and all that good stuff.


	7. Chapter 7

OK so first off I just want to say thanks so all my awesome reviewers here is chapter 7 and I am just about to hit 100 reviews so props to all of you for being so awesome. For that you all get a cookie! Well since I don't have any cookies how about some good old fashioned Jateness? So please read and review and all that good stuff. Also thanks to all the input on the rating change, if you haven't noticed the story is now rated M so thanks again.

**CHAPTER 7**

Jack tore his mouth away from Kate with a curse as he was interrupted once again. Kate giggled at his obscenity and he shot her a rueful smile. He went into his bedroom and grabbed a shirt and headed for the front door. Kate came into the living room area and sat on the arm of the couch somewhat curious to who was at the door. She was amused by Jack's reaction but she also understood it. Seconds ago they had been kissing passionately and Jack was about to lead her to his bed. Kate shook her head slightly; she still couldn't understand why it was so easy to be with him. Kate wasn't a slut in fact Jack was the first and only time she'd ever had a one-night stand and that had turned into a weekend event. She didn't know why but she couldn't resist him if her life depended on it. There was just such a strong draw to him, and honestly Kate had no problem giving in to it. It had been a long four months since she last saw him. She knew she was going to have to explain to him sometime why she skipped out on him. She hadn't wanted to leave that day but she was positive it was for his own protection. Now she was in Chicago and they were going to raise their baby together and no ex-boyfriend in Vegas was going to ruin this. This was Kate's opportunity for a second chance and she planned on taking it by the way Jack had just kissed her perhaps he was willing to take a chance with her as well.

Jack opened the door trying to hold in his annoyance and came face to face with the other part of his landlord team Rose. She was a sweet woman who was always looking out for her tenants as if they were her own children. Now it was no coincidence that Rose had just stopped by the apartment. She had run into Claire who was asking Bernard about her leaking pipes. She explained Jack temporarily fixed the problem for the time being but would need the new part soon. She also mentioned that Jack had a young lady in his apartment, a young pregnant lady in his apartment to be exact. Rose was a curious human being and always had been so she decided to drop by and give the doctor a visit. She came with a key lime pie in hand to disguise her appearance. Now Rose wasn't a busybody she would never tell anyone else that Jack was with a woman but she worried about Jack. When he came to them looking for a place to live he was a broken shell of a man. His wife had cheated on him and had taken him for most of his money. As time progressed he came out of his shell and everyone saw how charming the handsome man was. Unfortunately he worked crazy hours and didn't take very good care of himself. So Rose had taken it upon herself to care for the young man and make sure he was doing ok. She was very protective of him and she was just hoping to get a slight peek of the mystery woman and hopefully get a reading as to whether or not she was good enough for Jack.

"Uh Rose, Hello" Jack said giving her a hurried smile and Rose couldn't help but notice that Jack was slightly flushed and his lips were swollen as if recently kissed. She smiled to herself wondering if perhaps now wasn't such a good time to visit but her curiosity was definitely peaked now. "Please come in" Jack stepped back and gestured for her to enter. When she did her eyes fell on a beautiful young woman who was sitting on the arm of the chair. Rose managed to not look at the girl's stomach in fear of giving her ulterior motives away. The woman stood and smoothed her shirt.

"Kate I'd like you to meet Rose, Rose I'd like you to meet Kate." Jack said. The two women smiled at each other but Kate had a definite feeling she was being scrutinized by the older woman. She shot Jack a nervous glance and he gave her a reassuring smile and she relaxed immediately. "Kate I think I mentioned before Rose owns the building with her husband Bernard whom you met earlier." Jack said leaning on the arm of the couch next to Kate.

"Oh yes your husband is a very charming man" Kate said with a sincere smile.

Rose smiled back; so far she liked the girl, also standing next to Jack they made a very striking couple. "He can be charming when he wants to" Rose said with a smirk. "Jack I brought you a pie its key lime so I hope you like it."

"Of course" Jack said taking the pie from her. "I'll just set this in the kitchen. Thank you Rose."

"No problem dear" Rose called out. She gave a smile to Kate, "Tell me has he ordered dinner yet and is at all remotely edible?"

Kate smiled remembering Bernard's warning to Jack about ordering take out. "We were just about to order. I think we're going to go with Chinese" Kate said.

"Well I guess that's not too bad, better than all that greasy pizza" Rose said shaking her head and Kate giggled at the thought of Rose scolding Jack on his eating habits.

"So tell me Kate how do you know Jack?" Rose asked never one to hold a punch.

Kate chewed on her lip, what the hell was taking Jack so long? "We met in Las Vegas actually. Jack was there for a conference."

Rose remembered Jack leaving for a conference in Vegas a few months back. She also remembered when he came back he was quite moody perhaps his discontent was over this young woman here. "Oh that's nice are you here visiting?" Rose asked.

"No" Kate smiled softly trying to hold in her own excitement. "I'm actually moving here to Chicago so Jack said I could stay with him until I find a place" Kate was ready to get Jack and drag him from the kitchen she liked Rose but she felt like she was a bug under a microscope as the woman checked her out.

"Well that's nice" Rose said and she was dying to look down at Kate's stomach. Just then Jack came in and Kate gave him a relieved look. He smiled back at her and stood next to her leaning on the arm of the couch again. This time a little bit closer to Kate.

"What's nice?" he asked hearing the end of the conversation. The truth was he knew Rose was here because she probably heard about Kate most likely from Claire. Jack was closer to Rose than his own mother so he had been in the kitchen working up the courage to tell her Kate was pregnant. He really wanted Rose to like Kate; in fact he wanted all his friends and family to like her. After what happened a few minutes ago Jack was planning on keeping Kate close and possibly forever if he could.

"Oh Kate was just telling me you two met in Las Vegas and now she's moving to Chicago." Rose said with a small smirk hidden behind her large smile.

Jack rolled his eyes. He slipped his arm around Kate's waist and pulled her close to his side. Kate looked down at him surprised at first at the contact but she smiled shyly at him. "Is there anything in particular you would like to ask me or Kate?" Jack asked looking at Rose.

Rose gave him an innocent look, "What? No Jack I just came to bring you pie."

Jack chuckled and caught Kate's eye and winked. She realized that Rose was here for information and probably already knew of the pregnancy. She gave Jack a smile and nod indicating it was ok with her to tell Rose.

"Yes Rose, Kate is pregnant, she's four months along and yes the baby is mine" he said proudly and Kate couldn't help the big goofy grin that came across her face. They had just revealed the baby together to the first person and it felt wonderful. Listening to Jack talk about their baby with pride in his voice made Kate almost giddy.

Rose smiled dropping all innocent pretenses. "Congratulations Jack" she said giving him a big hug. She pulled away and went to Kate. She took Kate's hands in hers and looked directly into Kate's eyes. She apparently approved because she pulled Kate into a hug. "Congratulations honey, and please let me say you got yourself a real good father for this child." Jack blushed and Kate grinned.

"I know" Kate said beaming.

"Well I'll let you go so you can order that dinner, you have to feed the poor girl Jack, she's eating for two you know" she mock scolded Jack. Jack threw his hands up as if annoyed but the smile on his face gave him away. "And you make sure you eat two pieces of that pie, you're too skinny" Rose said to Kate and the pregnant woman grinned. Jack led Rose out and closed the door behind her. He leaned on the door and looked back at Kate, they were alone again.

"I guess I should probably feed you" Jack said with a smirk.

Kate rubbed her belly gently, "Well we are getting hungry."

Jack smiled and walked to her and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Well we can't have that."

Jack placed the order while Kate unpacked some of her things that she would need. The dinner came and they didn't speak much for they were too hungry and Kate did indeed eat two pieces of pie and felt no guilt for it either. After dinner Kate and Jack changed into their pajamas both tired form the hard day. When Kate came out of the guest bedroom Jack led her to the couch and they sat next to each other and Jack took her hand in his.

"I guess we should talk about what happened before" Jack said with a soft smile.

Kate chuckled lightly, "You mean how we almost ended up right back in bed?"

Jack smiled sheepishly, "Yeah that"

"I don't know what to say Jack. I mean you touch me and I'm electrified by you. When you kissed me I didn't care about anything but getting to that bed." She said blushing slightly.

"I guess we still got it huh?" Jack asked with a smile. "It would be easy to fall right into bed but I don't know if that's the best thing." He took a deep breath. "I mean I think what we have is pretty special and on top of that we have a baby on the way. I guess I think maybe this time around we should take it slow and get to know each other. I'd like to know about your life and the things that make you happy. Now I know you're going to argue but I was thinking that it might be good for you to stay here with me for awhile. It's a new city and it takes some getting used to, I guess I'd feel better if I knew you were somewhere safe."

Kate smiled, "Ok, I'll stay here for a bit but I can't promise that if I find a really great place to live I'm not going to take it. I like it here though and I like Bernard, Rose and Claire. I like you too" Kate said cutely.

"Good cause I like you too" Jack said and they got lost in one another's eyes.

"Perhaps it would be ok if we kissed sometimes?" Kate said. "I mean we can still get to know each other and kiss right?" she asked sinking into his gaze.

"Yeah I think kissing would be alright" Jack said nodding slightly. They both leaned in and their lips met in a slow and gentle kiss. They brushed their lips against one another just getting used to the texture and taste of each others lips. Jack gently wrapped his arm around Kate's waist and pulled her closer and the kiss deepened as their mouths opened and their tongues moved towards one another and worked together in a sultry dance.

Kate wasn't sure how long they kissed for but she found her knees going weak and her heart practically beating out of her chest. They broke away gently to catch their breath. After a few minutes Kate felt a yawn escape her. Jack smiled and helped her to her feet.

"You've had a long day why don't you get some sleep; I think I could hit the sack myself." Jack said taking her hand. Kate nodded and allowed him to lead her towards her bedroom. When they got to the door he nodded across the hall. "I'll be right here if you need me" he said. He leaned and brushed his lips against hers in a sweet and gentle goodnight kiss. To both their amazement the chaste kiss quickly turned into a passionate exchange. Jack held Kate close as he thoroughly explored her mouth with his tongue causing Kate to moan into his mouth.

"Kissing is good" Kate mumbled against him and she hugged him closer to her. Jack gently backed Kate into the room while continuing the delicious kiss. When he got her to the bed he gently pulled from her mouth so he could pull the covers back. Kate immediately attached her lips to his neck working her way up and down his throat causing Jack to forget momentarily what he was doing. He scooped Kate up and laid her gently on the bed as their lips met once again. He pulled the covers up and broke the kiss reluctantly.

"Just kissing" he said when she looked surprised that he didn't follow her onto the bed.

"Ok" she said but she was slightly disappointed. She knew they agreed to wait but by god that man could kiss. He leaned down and left a peck on her forehead. "Night Kate, I'm glad you're here" he said softly.

"Me too" Kate said sleepily. He backed out of the room and Kate tried to close her eyes and sleep but she couldn't. Jack was in the room next to her and it was driving her bonkers. She wasn't used to being with him but sleeping somewhere different. She tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep. She bunched the blankets around her to cocoon herself but it wasn't working. Kate sat up and sighed. She rubbed her belly gently.

"Your mother is insane." Kate said softly to the baby. She hated sleeping in new places and it usually took her a night to get adjusted. She glanced at the door. If she slept with Jack she was sure she could sleep. She always felt safe with him. In fact their first night together in Vegas was in a bed that wasn't her own and she had slept like a log. She figured it was due to exhaustion from the marathon lovemaking but Kate wondered if it could have just been Jack's presence. Kate sighed and flipped the covers back. She swung her legs out and got up from the bed. She quietly tiptoed into the hallway and into Jack's room. She wondered if he always left the door open or did he do that for her? She crept up to his bedside where he was on his side his eyes closed.

"Jack" she whispered and she gently shook his shoulder. After a second he awoke and looked at her standing beside his bed. He sat up and Kate couldn't help but notice he had gotten rid of the t-shirt he had worn earlier.

"What's wrong, are you ok?" he asked concerned.

Kate gave him a small smile. "I can't sleep, can I sleep with you?"

Surely they could share a bed and act like adults? Right?

Ok gang you know the drill hit the little review button thingie. Also forgive my spelling and grammar errors it's 2 am and I'm exhausted.


	8. Chapter 8

Ok gang here's another update. Oh yeah since this is now a M rated fic I decided what the hell and some of things are going to be pretty steamy. Also since Kate isn't a fugitive in this I changed her back story a little bit. And be warned the flashback is kind of long.

**CHAPTER 8**

"Sure" Jack said as he rubbed his eyes wearily. He scooted over in the bed and lifted the covers and Kate quickly crawled in next to him. Jack pulled the blankets up and made sure she was completely covered. He lay back down and found Kate on her side looking up at him. He turned to his side and mirrored her position. He looked at her concerned and gently stroked her cheek. "You ok?" he asked huskily.

Kate snuggled down into the warm blankets and breathed in Jack's scent from the pillows and immediately felt better.

"I'm sorry" she whispered. "I just have problems sleeping in new places. I usually toss and turn the first night and then I'm ok after that"

"It's ok, don't be sorry" Jack said affectionately. "It's ok to be anxious in a new place, plus with the baby you're probably beginning to nest."

"Nest?" Kate asked slightly confused.

"It's when pregnant women start getting the urge to get ready for the baby. They want things in their correct spots and they want stability. A move like this would surely throw you a little Kate." Jack said gently. "Plus you're in a whole different city than you're used to but be sure the building is safe and my front door is tightly locked." He said in case Kate was afraid of possible crime. Chicago had a high crime rate but Jack had never had a problem in this building. Bernard and Rose took security very seriously.

"I'm not afraid of that, you're here" Kate said softly and Jack couldn't help but feel slight pride in the fact that Kate trusted him to protect her.

"Yeah I'm here" he said with a small smile. He watched Kate burrow deeper into the covers and he smiled at how small she looked.

"Anything else bothering you?" he asked gently.

Kate scrunched her nose a little and she looked away. Jack tilted her chin up and met her gaze and he watched her sigh.

"It's just, I'm not used to being around you and not sleeping with you." She said embarrassed. "I don't just mean sleep with you in the you know sleep with you meaning. It's just I liked going to sleep and waking up in your arms. It didn't feel right being on the other side of the hallway."

Jack smiled and slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. She quickly snuggled up to him and buried her face into his neck.

"You're always welcome here" Jack said softly and Kate smiled as his voice rumbled and she felt the vibrations through his throat.

They lay there for a few minutes and Jack had begun to wonder if Kate had fallen asleep when she spoke.

"Jack do you have a lot of family, I mean are you close to your parents?" Kate asked out of the blue. It was something she wondered about, her own mother was gone and she was hoping the baby would have grandparents.

"Well I don't have a large family it was just my parents and me. We're not real close why?" Jack asked his and lightly stroking her back.

"Oh, well it's just my mother passed on and I was hoping the baby would have grandparents to dote on him or her." Kate said thoughtfully.

Jack rolled on to his back and stared at the ceiling quietly. He was so still Kate was afraid she angered him, she was about to ask him if he was ok when he spoke.

"My parents are the opposite of loving and doting. I grew up in what can only be described as a cold house. They never showed me much affection; I was a burden to my mother and a disappointment to my father." Jack said quietly.

Kate frowned when she heard that, "Oh Jack that's impossible you're a wonderful man."

Jack chuckled, "I appreciate the support truly I do but if you said that to my parents I'm sure they'd laugh you out the door."

"But you're a doctor Jack, a good one, that night you came into the bar all those other doctors wanted to talk to you. I watched them, and when you weren't there they talked about you like you were the best." Kate said. She sat up on her elbow and rested her head on her hand and looked down at him concerned.

Jack smiled softly and sadly. "Well they were all pretty wasted, my father is also a doctor Kate and in his eyes I will never be as good as him. He never misses an opportunity to tell me that every time I see him. But hey at least that could be considered attention, my mother just ignores me completely and won't even speak to me unless I say something to her."

Kate felt the sadness fill her chest, growing up she didn't have it easy her so called father abandoned her and her mother when Kate's mom was still pregnant. Diane worked hard to support Kate working two to three jobs at the same time. Even though they might not have had all the material items, Kate never once felt her mother regretted or resented her. She grew up in a house of love and when her mother passed when Kate was nineteen she was crushed. To hear Jack talk about these horrible people he had as parents it broke her heart.

"It sounds like your mother is a miserable shrew and your father is just jealous of your talent" Kate said darkly.

Jack looked at her slightly thrown. No one had ever stood up for him the way she just did and she hadn't even been there for the whole situation. His parents had liked Sarah she had been just like them cold and heartless, when she had left with most of his money and what was left of his heart his parents had blamed him for not being able to hold on to such a perfect woman.

"Thank you" Jack said reaching up and stroking her cheek lightly.

"Don't thank me Jack, I've spent what four days with you total and I can see what they're missing out on and their idiots." Kate said looking him in the eye. Suddenly she smiled gave a wicked smile. "So how badly are they going to react to the fact that you knocked up a cocktail waitress in Vegas during a sexual marathon?"

Jack chuckled amused, "That will be a very interesting conversation. They loved my first wife Sarah, she was cold and frigid. You're the exact opposite fiery and passionate. Day and night" he said affectionately.

"Thank god" Kate said rolling her eyes. She gave him a cheeky smile, "Tell me more about how fiery and passionate I am over the frigid queen."

Jack grinned, "Well where Sarah hated to be touched, you almost lean into it like a cat. She hated affection and she didn't care for sex much either. At least not with me anyway she enjoyed the company of many of my so called friends though."

Kate shook her head slightly, "Let me guess she liked it quick, fast with the lights off and no talking?"

Jack nodded at Kate's observation amused. This was just about the strangest conversation he'd ever had especially in bed with another woman talking about his sex life with his ex wife.

"Well no wonder you didn't work out you're a passionate man Jack with a very healthy sexual appetite. I can't even fathom how a woman could deny your touch, Jesus I was yours after about two minutes after we first spoke." Kate said still trying to understand what a moron this Sarah woman was.

"Two minutes huh?" Jack asked somewhat amused.

"Of course" Kate said remembering the first time she saw the handsome doctor who would change her life.

_It was a hectic night at the bar. Kolision was one of the busiest hotel bars in all of Vegas. Though it was hectic Kate was making some good tips. She was on till nine tonight and was looking forward to making some money and getting home early for once. She walked into the employee lounge and saw her friend Shannon.._

"_Hey Shan, how's it going?" Kate asked. She went to her locker and smoothed and straightened out her uniform which consisted of a black mini and white baby t-shirt that had Kolision written on it. She was just getting back from her break._

"_Not bad, I'm working a double so I'm hoping for some good tips. Did you hear it's a conference of doctors in the hotel this weekend?" Shannon_ _asked excitedly._

"_Yeah a couple of them were in earlier." Kate said not sure why Shannon_ _was so excited._

_Shannon_ _saw the look Kate was shooting her. "Come on Kate the place is crawling with rich, good looking doctors. It's like a dream come true."_

_Kate laughed, "Well the few I've waited on have been like eighty with wedding bands on. But maybe all the cute ones are at the bar away from all of us lowly cocktail waitresses."_

"_Oh please" Shannon_ _said rolling her eyes. "You are so close to getting promoted to bar Kate. Just you wait you do well this weekend and I bet Sammie will have you training this week." Making it to bartender was a big deal in Kolision; it was higher pay better hours and considered an honor to get. Kate had worked her butt off and was hoping for a promotion soon. Shannon_ _was a bartender and they always joked about how much fun they'll have when they get to work the bar together. "Just you wait Kate I can feel it in the air, tonight is going to be your lucky night. Well I better get back talk to you later hun." With that Shannon__scooted out the door leaving an amused Kate behind._

_Kate fixed her hair checked her makeup and went back outside._

_The night was flying by and Kate was raking in really good money. She had managed to snag a table of about ten of the visiting doctors. She was lucky sometimes large groups of men drinking meant Kate was going to get harassed but these guys seemed really nice. They in fact were all talking about some doctor named Shep who seemed to be some kind of miracle worker. They were telling stories about things he did in the operating room, Kate who had a secret obsession with those real life doctor shows on the Discovery Channel, couldn't help but listen. After delivering a few rounds and hearing some stories she came to the conclusion this Shep guy was the doctor she wanted if she needed surgery. _

_Suddenly she heard some grumbling from some of the guys and noticed a tall greasy haired man walking their direction._

"_I thought he wasn't coming" muttered a man that Kate had picked up his name was Mark._

"_Hey guys" the guy said standing near Kate. He reeked of cologne and was just all around gross looking._

"_Hey Robbie" Mark said and Kate could tell he was trying to sound polite. _

"_How about a vodka tonic, sweetheart?" with that Robbie slapped Kate upside the ass._

"_Jesus Robbie" Mark said shooting Kate an apologetic look. "Why don't you sit down and try to keep your hands off our waitress?"_

"_It's ok" Kate said with a strained smile sadly used to men like Robbie. She went to fill their drink order._

"_See she liked it" Robbie said cockily making all the other guys at the table want to throw up. _

_Kate came back and was passing out the drinks. When she came to Robbie she set the drink on the table she found herself being pulled down on the guys lap. "How about a lap dance baby?" _

_Suddenly everything happened so quick it went like a blur. Kate struggled to get out of the man's embrace and she was aware of the guys at the table getting up. Before she knew it she felt a hand gently but firmly grasp her arm and pull her out of the sleaze's lap. She looked up and found herself being held by a nicely built man wearing a nice suit. Her eyes traveled up and she found herself looking into the most beautiful rich brown eyes she'd ever seen. _

"_Are you ok?" the handsome stranger asked and all Kate could do was dumbly nod._

"_What the hell's your problem man?" Kate looked over to see Robbie getting in the strangers face. He gently maneuvered Kate behind him in case of a confrontation so she wouldn't get hurt. Kate noticed Robbie look at the stranger for the first time and she watched as he quickly backed down. "Uh sorry Shep I didn't realize it was you." _

_So this was the great Shep thought Kate. He was still holding her gently and she was pressed lightly against his back. She couldn't help but notice he smelled wonderful. Suddenly she felt Shep tug her out in front of him but he kept a steely eye on Robbie as he kept his arm around her waist._

"_You were just to apologize to the lady correct?" Shep asked dead serious._

_Robbie turned bright red for being called out in front of everyone. He shot Shep a stormy glance but Shep didn't budge. Finally Robbie looked at Kate. "I'm sorry" he muttered not sounding apologetic at all. She saw Shep shoot Robbie a disbelieving glance and Kate jumped in just wanting the confrontation over._

"_Its ok apology accepted" she said quickly. Robbie nodded and stormed off towards the exit. Kate felt Shep's grip tighten slightly on her when Robbie passed her and then the jerk was gone._

_Kate felt Shep's eyes on her and she looked back at him getting lost in his gaze._

"_You sure you're alright Miss?" Shep asked. "I apologize that every once in awhile a cretin like him slips through the gene pool and tries to pass himself off as a member of the male species."_

_Kate giggled and Shep's smile widened. "I'm ok and it's Kate, my name that is." Kate said blushing at how stupid she sounded._

"_Well Kate, I'm Jack" he said smiling at her. She was truly beautiful and Jack couldn't help but get hypnotized by her._

_The guys went back to their talking but Mark couldn't help the smirk cross his face, watching his best friend and the cute waitress. He noticed Jack hadn't removed his arm from around her waist and she didn't seem to mind. He also noticed that they seemed to be lost in one another's eyes. Mark chuckled lightly his friend had been kind of distant lately especially with the female crowd. Perhaps his friend had stumbled upon something with the beautiful brunette. _

_Kate shook her head lightly trying to clear it, "Um can I get you something to drink?"_

_Jack looked at her confused for a second thinking wasn't that supposed to be his line? Then he remembered she was the waitress and probably would like to get back to work. He quickly but reluctantly dropped his arm from her waist._

"_How about a scotch on the rock" he said shooting her a rueful smile. _

"_Sure thing" Kate said not really wanting to leave. She managed to drag herself away and towards the bar. When she got up there she went to Shannon._

"_Scotch on the rocks" she said almost dreamily._

"_Hey are you ok?" Shannon_ _asked. "I saw that creep grab you and was about to send Big Jim over but it seems you had your own knight in shining armor." She asked with a raised eyebrow._

"_Yeah isn't he great? His name is Jack" Kate said blushing._

_Shannon_ _looked at Kate somewhat shocked. She was acting like a love struck school girl and had known the guy for like two minutes. This was not like Kate at all. She handed Kate the drink and watched her friend curiously as she went to deliver it to the mysterious Jack._

_Jack had been watching Kate the whole time and when she started walking over he jumped up and met her halfway. _

"_Uh thanks" he said taking the drink. He stared at it and Kate wondered if she should leave. "Hey Kate?" he asked suddenly. "When you get off work would you like to get a drink, or talk or something?" Jack asked feeling suddenly nervous._

_Kate smiled shyly she knew she should say no but she couldn't do it. "I'm actually off in about ten minutes. There's a coffee shop that stays open 24 hours on the second floor of the hotel." Kate said. "I'll just need about five minutes to change" Kate said._

"_Ok so I'll see you in about fifteen minutes then" Jack said with a charming smile._

_Kate went back to work and Jack headed back to the table drink in hand. He sat down next to Mark who shot him a curious look._

"_Shep, you don't drink scotch" he said gesturing towards the drink._

"_I know, you can have it" Jack said keeping his eyes on the brunette._

"_He's taking me for coffee" Kate practically squealed at Shannon._

"_What? Kate you just me the guy are you sure this is such a good idea." Shannon_ _asked concerned for her friend._

"_It's just coffee, what could happen with just having coffee?" Kate asked as she bounded off to go get changed._

Kate smiled to herself. Just coffee huh, here she was in bed with a man who bewitched and befuddled her, carrying his baby all over just coffee.

Jack noticed the smile on Kate's lips, "What are you thinking?" he asked softy.

"I told my friend we were jut getting coffee." She said with a giggle.

"Yeah I told Mark the same thing." Jack said with a smile. "I don't believe in fate Kate at least I never did, but something happened that night. Something happened that made me want you without even knowing you" he said. "I mean I haven't seen you in four months and you're here and it's like I can't keep my hands off of you."

Kate smiled pressing her body against his. 'You're the one who came up with the just kissing rule." She said stroking his chest lightly.

Jack stilled her hand before she could do too much damage to his resolve. "I know, Kate I fell in love with you back in Vegas. I know we only knew each other for a short time but I did and I do love you. I've thought about you everyday since you left. I guess I just want to make sure what we have is real and not just physical." Jack stammered realizing he just told Kate he loved her.

"I fell in love with you too Jack, I believe in soulmates and the way we came together I believe we were meant to be. I can't imagine having the baby of any other man. I cried when I found out I was pregnant but not in sadness but in happiness. I understand what you mean so I'm willing to learn all there is to know about you and to hold off on the physical relationship, at least for a little bit" she said with a wink.

Jack pulled her head down and kissed her sweetly. They made love to each others mouths and Kate moaned in appreciation. They broke apart gently and Kate lay down and snuggled into his embrace with a yawn. Jack chuckled and held her close and soon the two fell asleep with at least a few questions answered, but each knew they had their work cut out for them.

Ok so you know the drill review review review


	9. Chapter 9

Ok here's the next update and if you read any of my other stories I'm going to be updating them during the next couple days. So on with the next chapter and here's a little smut as well. We're having the storm of the century so if this doesn't get to you soon it's because the damn power keeps going out and it sounds like a tornado out my window. This is a short chapter but a slightly interactive one you get to decide what happens next.

_Kate gasped as Jack moved his mouth down her body slowly kissing and tasting every inch of her._

"_This is crazy" she whimpered as she ran her hands up and down his back. Jack pulled himself on top of her and braced his weight on his elbows. He smiled and leaned in taking her lips with his own. After a few minutes he broke away from the kiss._

"_Not that long ago I was making love to you on the rooftop" he said nibbling at her ear._

"_Mmm yes that's true but I'm in your room now and this is what round three of lovemaking?" Kate asked sighing as he licked her neck._

"_Four don't forget the elevator" Jack said. He reached his hands down and gently spread her legs which she happily wrapped around his waist._

_Kate giggled, "Oh god the elevator that poor elderly couple looked like they were going to have heart attacks when the doors opened." Kate said breathlessly._

_Jack slipped his hand into her hair and cupped the back of her head. "Just imagine how they would have felt if they had opened the doors a few minutes earlier". Kate giggled as the image of Jack pinning her to the elevator wall literally hammering into her popped into her head. _

_Jack smiled when he heard her laugh and he leaned in and kissed her again. Kate pressed up against him impatiently._

"_What?" he asked with a smirk, intentionally pulling away from her._

"_Don't tease Jack" Kate whined tugging him closer to him with her arms and legs. _

"_What do you want Kate?" Jack asked huskily._

"_I want you in me" Kate whimpered._

"_Ok" Jack said smiling. With that he eased inside of her gently filling her. Kate moaned at his intrusion her mouth opened and Jack was waiting and slipped his tongue inside and they kissed deeply and passionately. Jack thrust inside of her at a rhythmic pace and they continued kissing sensually. Where their other three rounds of lovemaking had been frenzied this time was slow and deep. Kate whimpered as she felt her body begin to tingle with the sensation of release. She had come each time they had been together and Kate was sure this would easily be a fourth orgasm. No man had ever made love to her the way he did and she couldn't help feeling entranced by the way his body played hers like an instrument. She hugged him tighter burying her face in his neck as he thrust inside of her, she was pretty sure she would be sore tomorrow from all the exercise her body was getting but she couldn't care less. Suddenly her body arched and she cried out his name as her release shook her from head to toe. Jack sped up his ministrations and quickly followed with his own release. He collapsed on top of her and Kate held him stroking his back._

_Jack pulled gently out of her and rolled onto his back. Kate stayed on her back and looked over at him as she tried to regain her breath. He looked over at her and saw her looking at him. He smiled softly at her and opened his arms._

"_Come here" he said and Kate couldn't help scooting over to him and resting in his embrace. "Try to sleep, you must be exhausted"_

"_You want me to stay?" Kate asked looking up into his eyes._

_Jack smiled at her and gently caressed her cheek. "Yes I want you to stay. I like you Kate a lot actually." He said almost shyly._

"_Thank you" Kate said leaning up to brush her lips against his gently. With that she snuggled down into his arms and closed her eyes falling asleep almost immediately. Jack smiled watching her affectionately and gave in to his own exhaustion._

Jack awoke to a slight pressure on his chest and he opened his eyes confused. He glanced down and a smile appeared on his face. Sometime during the night Kate and managed to pull her self on top of him and was lying on him fully. Her arms were wrapped around him and her head was resting on his shoulder. Her legs had managed to entangle with his own and Jack was slightly shocked that Kate had managed to do it without waking him or herself up. He stroked her back gently and she stirred.

She awoke to feel a hard chest underneath her. She stretched and sighed as she felt her body press against another. Jack she thought to herself with a smile. She lifted her head and found Jack looking at her. Without thinking or caring she lifted her head up and took his lips with her own. Jack slipped his fingers through her head and pulled her closer to him. Kate let out a whimper as Jack's tongue slipped between her lips. Before either one realized it Kate was straddling him and they were tearing at each others clothing. Kate had managed to pull his shirt off and Jack had his hands up her shirt rubbing her bare back. Kate moaned as she grinded against his lap. Hearing her moan Jack came to his senses and pulled away.

"Kate wait" Jack said holding her by her shoulders.

"No Jack" Kate said pressing her lips against his again.

"Kate I just, Jesus you feel good" he said giving in and kissing her back hungrily.

Kate ripped off her own shirt breaking free of his lips for a quick second. Jack flipped her over and he was cradled by her legs that were quickly wrapping around him. Jack dragged his lips down her neck and toward her exposed chest. He took a nipple into his mouth and Kate cried out her back arching.

"Jack please" she begged though she wasn't sure what she was begging for exactly. Jack slipped his hands down and began to strip her of the shorts she was wearing. He looked up at her and their eyes met were they ready to continue this?

So where does this story go? Do they consummate or do they stop. You vote and let me know. I gotta go cause if the weather knocks out the power again I'm going to end up losing the entire story.


	10. Chapter 10

Whoo Boy would you look it that at, well it seems the votes are in for whether Kate and Jack consummate and would you believe it ended it up a tie. You guys are making my life so difficult :) So here I am with a dilemma what to do what to do well I guess you'll just have to read and see what happens.

**CHAPTER 10**

Jack had his fingers on the waistband of Kate's shorts while trying to concentrate on motor functions as Kate was nibbling on his ear and neck driving him mad. He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes.

Kate gripped him tight "Jack I swear to god if you say we have to stop to get to know each other I will kill you."

Jack just grinned as he pulled her shorts down leaving her naked. She went to attack the drawstring on his sweats and Jack latched on to her neck kissing and sucking the sensitive skin and was rewarded by a sensual moan. He felt like he was spiraling out of control, he needed her so bad his body craved her the way a person craves food. He steadied her and pulled her into a crushing kiss. Kate had been working on the stubborn knot he had tied on his pants but the minute he kissed her, she forgot what she was doing. Just as Jack felt like he was going to die if he didn't have her the telephone rang. Kate broke away from the kiss with what could only be a frustrated growl.

"Don't answer it" she practically hissed.

Jack shot her an apologetic glance. "It's my day off but I'm still on call, it could be the hospital."

Kate sighed, "I guess I can't even argue with that."

Jack rolled off of her and they both sighed sadly as he grabbed the ringing phone.

"Hello" Jack answered though he couldn't help appreciate Kate's nudity as she lay next to him.

"Hey buddy, where the hell are you?" it was Mark, Jack's best friend.

"What do you mean where the hell am I? I obviously jus answered my house phone" Jack said with a smirk, sitting up and rubbing his hand through his hair.

"Ha Ha very funny asshole, you're supposed to be down at Thompson Court for the basketball game. You know the charity one that you told me I'd burn in hell if I didn't participate in?"

"I don't have to be there until ten" Jack said.

"It's a little after ten now have you been drinking or something?" Mark asked.

"Shit" Jack exclaimed. "Give me a little time and I'll be there."

"Game time is at eleven and don't forget burning in hell" Mark yelled as Jack hung up.

Jack looked at Kate who was looking at him curious. "Don't kill me but I forgot I signed up to play in a charity basketball game for the hospital."

Kate smiled and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "Nice cop-out throwing charity in my face, how could I get mad at that." She said with a giggle. Then she made a face. "Isn't it kind of cold to be playing basketball?"

"Indoor court" Jack leaned over and kissed her on the nose. "Want to come with?"

"Ooh does that mean I get to see you all sweaty and stuff?" Kate teased.

Jack jumped from the bed and pulled her with him and she grabbed the sheet for cover. "Maybe if you behave yourself" he smirked and Kate giggled again.

"Well in that case count me in, let me go clean up." Kate said.

"Kate it's a basketball game in what will be in a most likely a hot gymnasium, don't worry too much" Jack said.

"Hey" she said throwing her arms around his neck while Jack tried to refrain from looking at her nude body wrapped only in a sheet. "I'm there to cheer you on, I have to look respectable." With that she scooted out of the room and Jack quickly went about his morning routine. After getting dressed and ready he went into the kitchen to grab a quick bite of toast. He made some for Kate and grabbed some fruit. He threw a couple granola bars and snacks into a bag for her. He was going to have to adjust to eating breakfast every morning being it was so important for her and the baby. He couldn't help the silly grin that formed on his face as he thought of his unborn child. His life had been thrown a complete loopdy loop in less than twenty-four hours, but somehow it was fine with him. He shook his head it was insane but when it came to him and Kate, insane fit.

"Jack?" he looked up to see Kate standing in front of him in a pair of jeans and bra. He was happily distracted by her creamy bare skin. "What should I wear?" she held up two shirts. Jack gave her a strange look, Kate didn't seem the high maintenance type. Seeing his confusion she rolled her eyes.

"One is bulky and the other is form fitting, in other words do you want people to see my tummy?" Kate asked. She secretly hoped he'd pick the form fitting sweater because as new as this whole pregnancy thing was Kate was very proud of her pregnant stomach. She had been since the minute she found out she was pregnant, looking in a mirror everyday watching for changes in her body.

"Whatever you're comfortable in" Jack said. "But know that I don't mind if your stomach shows"

Kate smiled, "Form fitting it is." She ran upstairs to finish dressing. Finally after she was dressed and Jack managed to get a piece of toast and a glass of orange juice into her they were on their way. As they walked out of the elevators they saw Bernard and Rose in the lobby. Rose gave Kate a little wink which made the young woman smile.

"Careful you two, with the wind chill it's below zero" Bernard called to them as they headed out into the bitter cold. Jack held Kate toward him to keep her warm and they quickly got into his car and warmed it up. Kate watched as Jack jumped out to scrape the ice off the windshield as she burrowed into her heavy coat. Finally they were on their way and at the gymnasium in no time. As they entered the gym, Jack took her hand in his and led her inside. He walked her over to the bleachers and helped her up to sit.

"Is this ok? I could get you a chair if this is too stressful for your back" Jack said concerned.

Kate rolled her eyed affectionately. "This is fine thank you."

"Good and here's some food for you since I didn't give you much time for breakfast. I'm sorry about that." Jack said handing the bag to her.

Kate reached out and tugged his sleeve pulling him towards her. "Thank you and I'm fine. Now go play your game and have fun."

Jack leaned down and gave her a quick but deep kiss. He broke away and headed down to the court. Kate blushed slightly at his open affection. She pulled her scarf and jacket off and while doing so was aware of a couple people eyeing her curiously. Kate looked down slightly embarrassed. She had just gotten settled when she was aware of a presence next to her. She glanced over and saw a pretty dark haired woman sitting down next to her. She gave Kate a big smile.

"Hi, my name's Cynthia" the lady said. "I noticed you came in with Jack. He's my husband Mark's best friend."

Kate smiled, "Hi I'm Kate, it's nice to meet you" she wondered if it was the same Mark from the bar in Vegas, he had been very nice.

Cynthia gave her a slightly thoughtful glance. Was this the same Kate that Mark had told her about? The same Kate that Jack fell head over heels for but came home broken hearted over? Not wanting to scare the girl off Cynthia decided not to say anything about it and let Kate open up to her.

"Are you from Chicago?" Cynthia asked trying not to be too forward.

"No I'm actually from Las Vegas" Kate said with a small smile.

Cynthia gave her a sympathetic look, "Ooh well welcome to Chicago in December. I'd like to tell you that the freezing cold weather is almost done but that would be a blatant lie."

Kate giggled, she liked Cynthia, in fact so far she liked all of Jack's friends. "It's definitely taking some getting used to. Jack actually had to scrape ice off of his car today; I'm a warm climate kind of girl so that was an odd thing to see."

Cynthia grinned, "That's the beauty of it, we stay in the car heating up while the men folk are out scraping away at the frozen windshield. Once we get snow it will warm up a little though" Cynthia let her eyes wander over the beautiful woman and was slightly stunned to see the woman's stomach. Kate noticed Cynthia's gaze and rubbed her tummy.

"Four months" she said with a smile.

"Wow" Cynthia said doing the math in her head. "Do you mind if I ask"

"Yeah its Jack's baby" Kate said looking down at her stomach. She looked at Cynthia nervously not sure what kind of reaction she'd get.

"Ohh I bet he's so excited" Cynthia said shocking Kate slightly. "I've known Jack a long time and that man is meant to be a father, he's always wanted kids."

Kate beamed slightly, "Yeah it wasn't exactly planned but we're working it out."

Cynthia waved her hand the air making a tsk noise. "The best things in life are the things that aren't planned. Trust me, Mark and I had twins when neither of us thought we were ready for kids. Of course it was the best thing in the world. Children change your lives but if you're open to it those changes can be the greatest thing to happen to you."

Kate affectionately stroked her stomach liking Cynthia even more. "I got into town yesterday and told Jack, he's taking it really well. Almost too well" Kate said with a chuckle. "I think I'm waiting for it to really sink in and he's going to pass out or something."

Cynthia grinned, "Nah not Jack, if he's happy he'll let you know right away. This is a good thing for Jack, he deserves some real happiness." She watched as a slight blush rose to Kate's cheeks. "Please forgive me if I overstep my boundaries, I'm a busybody by nature."

Kate smiled, "No I don't mind, plus you're Jack's friend I would be suspicious if you weren't curious about some pregnant woman showing up in his life suddenly."

Cynthia grinned, she really liked this girl. She had a little fire in her unlike Jack's ex wife the frigid ice queen. "So you don't mind me asking if you're going to let Jack be involved in the baby's life."

"I'm actually going to be moving out here, Jack offered to come to Vegas but he has more to give up than I do. I grew up without a father and I don't want my baby to have that." Kate said. She looked over the court and saw Jack and smiled. She shook her head slightly. "This time yesterday I was wracked in knots over telling Jack. Now I'm moving here, he's excited and for the first time in a long time I'm genuinely happy. I'm also confessing my life story to someone I don't even know" Kate said looking at Cynthia with a shy smile.

Cynthia laughed, "Well don't worry about that, we won't be strangers for long, especially if you're in Jack's life. In fact I give it two weeks before you're sick of me and start avoiding me." Kate giggled at that shaking her head, she highly doubted that. "Well now that we have all that covered let me fill you in on the important stuff. See that woman over there in the red?" Kate nodded. "She's the wife of the chief of staff, she's nice but she also wields a lot of power. She organized this game and everything. This also is amusing to watch because half of these doctors have never picked up a basketball in their life. That's why we're here, not to support but to snicker."

"It can't be that bad" Kate said stifling a giggle.

"Well you can say that, Jack is a born athlete, but my poor Mark he was the captain of the chess team in high school. Basketball is not exactly his strong point. Most of the female doctors are better than the guys but the men would never admit to it. Ok so where were we, ah yes the run down. Ok this is something you might want to know. See the girl at the bottom of the bleachers in the really really tight blue sweater? That's one of the nurses Ana, now don't be alarmed but she has the major hots for Jack." Cynthia said making a face.

Kate leaned forward to get a better view of the woman. "Now you don't need to worry because Jack wouldn't touch her unless a medical emergency was deemed necessary. I just wanted to give you a heads up because she was glaring daggers when you and Jack came in. So don't be surprised if she starts cheering extra loud for him or tries to hug him after the game. She can be kind of mean and nasty like that."

"She's done it to Jack's other girlfriends?" Kate asked keeping her eyes on Ana.

"Well, no not really Jack hasn't dated for quite some time, but he isn't the first guy Ana has tried to get with. She actually went after my Mark once. I came in to visit him and she saw me and started leaning against him petting his arm and stuff. He managed to pull away though I think he was frightened if you ask me." Cynthia said with a smirk.

"What did you do?" Kate asked with a smile.

"Well she and I managed to have a really nice conversation in which I told her if she ever pulled a stunt like that again she would be in the hospital and not to work." Cynthia said and Kate giggled.

"So how long has she been after Jack?" Kate asked sizing up the woman.

"Well, surprisingly quite some time, about four months now, but like I said Jack hasn't had any interest in her, in fact he hasn't had any interest in women at all these past four months. Wait remind me again, how far along are you?" Cynthia asked with a wicked smile.

"Four months" Kate said rolling her eyes.

"Wow what a coincidence" Cynthia pretended to be surprised and both women giggled. They were distracted by the blowing of the whistle the game had begun. Kate found it hard to keep her eyes off of Jack as he ran up and down the court. He was wearing black sweat pants and a red wife-beater and looked positively delicious. She didn't know too much about basketball but she managed to follow the game and cheer when Jack's team scored. Cynthia was right Jack was really good and Kate cheered for him loudly every time he made a basket. Ana also cheered loudly but Kate managed to ignore her most of the time.

A whistle blew and the players went off the court for a quick water break. Jack was wiping the sweat off his neck with a towel when a felt a hand slap him on the back and turned to see his friend Mark.

"Funny thing just happened." Mark said and Jack raised his eyebrow. "You see I looked out to see my beautiful wife and to my surprise I see her sitting with a very lovely lady. Now I look a little bit closer and I swear she looks just like a waitress I once met in Vegas. Funny huh?" Mark asked in a flippant tone.

Jack pretended to scour the stands confused though his gaze immediately fell on Kate. After a few minutes he spoke.

"Oh you mean the girl sitting next to Cynthia?" Jack asked as the whistle blew sounding for the game to start. "The beautiful brunette who is pregnant with my baby?" with that Jack threw a smirk at Mark and left his friend on the sidelines with his mouth hanging open. A second later a goofy grin spread across Mark's face. "Asshole" he muttered.

The rest of the game was very exciting and Jack managed to win the game by making the last basket before the timer ran out. Kate and Cynthia cheered loudly and Kate noticed there were a lot of people in the stands. She had been so distracted by talking to Cynthia and watching Jack she hadn't noticed all the people around her. She was glad it looked like a lot of money would be made for charity.

"Come on, lets go greet our guys" Cynthia said taking Kate's arm helping her down the bleachers. They came around a group of people and Kate saw Jack shaking hands with a couple of players from the other team. She smiled at how good looking he was. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of blue and a second later Ana had launched herself at Jack. Cynthia met Kate's gaze with a roll of her eyes. Kate watched partly amused as Jack tried to back away from Ana while peeling her arms off of him. He looked up and saw Kate and broke out into a giant grin. He wiggled away from Ana and Kate decided to show her how it was done. Kate ran and threw herself into Jack's arms and he scooped her up and twirled her lifting her off of the ground.

"I'm getting you all gross and sweaty" Jack said as he lightly set her back on her feet.

"I don't care" Kate said shaking her head. She leaned up and whispered in his ear. "I like it when you're all sweaty." Jack tightened his grip on her and Kate nuzzled her nose against his. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in sweet kiss. They broke away and smiled at one another.

"How's the baby?" he asked softly and Kate grinned. "We're very proud of Daddy for winning the game." Kate said brushing her lips against his again. While this was happening Cynthia met up with Mark and they were watching Jack and Kate with grins on their faces. She snuggled against her husband.

"Aren't they adorable?" she asked.

Mark nodded still slightly shocked by the day's events; he and Jack needed to have a chat. "He's missed her" Mark said kissing the top of Cynthia's head.

"She's moving here." His wife replied and he smiled, maybe Jack was finally going to get his happiness that he deserved.

Kate and Cynthia waited for Jack and Mark to shower and change. They had decided to grab a bite to eat after the game. Jack also wanted to get home because he knew he and Kate had a lot to talk about and not just their relationship. Kate felt eyes boring into the back of her head and she turned to see Ana leaning against the wall glaring at her.

"I got to hand it to her she is persistent" Cynthia said quietly.

"So am I" Kate said with a smirk. They looked up to see Jack and Mark headed their direction. She also noticed Ana move slightly off the wall as if she was going to make a mad dash towards Jack. Even though pregnant Kate was quicker and was at Jack's side with her arm around his waist in seconds. Cynthia chuckled oh she and Kate were going to be great friends. She met up with the group.

"Well it looks like you've already met Cynthia and this is Mark you met him in Vegas" Jack said kissing the side of her head. Kate held her hand out to Mark.

"It's nice to see you again." Kate said with a smile.

Mark grinned and elbowed Jack before he returned her handshake, "It's very nice to see you as well, Congratulations" he gestured toward her stomach and Kate thanked him shyly.

"Food" Cynthia piped in and they all laughed. "What?" she asked faking an indignant tone.

"That's my girl" Mark teased. "The bottomless pit."

"I was thinking of Kate she's the one who needs to eat. It isn't right to keep a pregnant woman hungry" Cynthia said sweetly and Kate giggled.

"You're pregnant?" they heard an icy tone behind them. "I just thought you were fat" The group turned to see Ana standing there with her arms across her chest. Jack sighed he didn't know what contest he won in hell but he couldn't seem to shake Ana free.

"Yes I'm pregnant" Kate said her voice syrupy sweet. "With Jack's baby" she added on for her own amusement.

Ana looked over at Jack, "And you believe her?" Jack felt Kate tighten under his arm knowing she was already sensitive about this subject.

"Ana, I don't know what your problem is; I have told you time and again that I'm not interested in you as anything but a friend. Kate is pregnant with my child and that's it. What Kate and I do is none of your business" Jack said forcefully and Kate relaxed slightly as Jack came to her defense.

"But Jack" Ana's voice dropped to being all cute and friendly. "I am your friend and I'm just looking out for you. I'd hate to see you taken in by some gold digger who's looking for you to raise some other guys baby."

Kate took a step forward but was held back by Jack.

"Come on; let's go before I lose my appetite." Cynthia said stepping forward and forcing Ana to take a step back. Jack maneuvered Kate past her and out the door. When they reached the last exit he heard Kate sniffle. He stopped and tilted her chin up and he saw tears streaming down her face. He pulled her into a tight hug rocking her gently as Mark and Cynthia sympathetically looked on.

"Stupid hormones" Kate muttered as she pulled away to wipe her eyes. She looked at Jack and he saw the determination in her eyes. "I want to take the paternity test Jack." She said, she knew that people would be thinking the same thing Ana said and Kate wanted the truth out so Jack could get some peace.

Jack sighed and stroked her hair. "I can't stop you" he said quietly, "But at least let me find a specialist who is trained in those tests, someone with a lot of experience"

"Ok" Kate agreed and Jack felt slightly better. This was one of the things they would have to talk about when they got home.

Kate shook off her worries and smiled at the group. "Hey how about that lunch?" she asked feeling embarrassed that she had just broke down in front of his friends.

"Absolutely I'm starving" Mark said and Cynthia rolled her eyes.

"When I'm hungry it's because I'm a bottomless pit, when he's hungry it's suddenly a national crisis." She said shaking her head. The group laughed and Kate began to relax again. As they headed back into the cold Jack placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and they rushed to the car to get out of the frigid temperatures.

Ok so not a whole lot of Jate but Kate made new friends and one enemy muhahaha so review and let me know what you think.


	11. Chapter 11

Hehe ok so I thought I'd share this with you, if you have ever read any other of my fics you would know that I usually put a warning in the summary or at the authors note at the beginning of a chapter if there is going to be smut or possibly disturbing themes torture, rape things I try to warn people about. So yesterday I got an e-mail from an irate reader who is reading my fic I Don't Believe You. The reader went off on me that I didn't warn about the sexual content, and the language was horrific and I was basically an all around bad writer and should just give up writing. So needless to say I was a little stumped, I've been very fortunate and haven't received many bad reviews knocks on wood. So I go over the story which is rated m and there in the summary is warning of future smut. Each chapter had a little warning saying smut ensues and so forth. So I replied to the e-mail and was actually very polite (strange for me) and explained that I had smut warnings all over and I'm sorry they didn't see it and yadda yadda yadda. Well I get a reply it seems the reader didn't know what smut was and didn't realize what I was talking about when I said smut. They then criticized me for being vague and using made up terms and I should still give up writing. So just to clear up any misunderstandings I just wanted to let you know that if I use the term smut that means sexual behavior and I apologize if I have ruined your life by using that term. Ok so I hope everyone is caught up on that hehe and just to let you know I'm not planning on retiring from writing but if its that bad please let me know and I'll quit ASAP J Also I'm just winging the medical knowledge in this chapter so if I'm off its ok cause I'm not actually performing medical procedures on people. Oh yeah there is slight smut in this chapter.

**CHAPTER 11**

Jack and Kate returned back to the apartment after their lunch with Mark and Cynthia and Kate had a really good time. When they got in and hung their jackets up Kate immediately went to the couch and bundled herself in the blanket that Jack had left out. Kate snuggled under and gave Jack an expectant look. He smiled and sat next to her and she spread the blanket over both of them and curled her legs under her and snuggled close to his side.

"You know the heat is on in here" Jack said giving her a cute smile.

"Jack I'm from Vegas, you know that place near the desert. It is frappen freezing outside and the cold just doesn't seem to leave you. I swear if this keeps up our baby is going to come out with a pair of ear muffs on." Kate said trying to get warm from the bitter cold outside. The temperature outside was below zero is that even considered livable conditions she thought to herself.

Jack laughed, "Just wait, in July it will be a hundred degrees out and with the humidity it will feel like it's a hundred and fifteen. And we don't have that nifty dry heat you desert people have nope it will be like living in a sauna." Kate made a face having a feeling Spring and Fall were going to be her favorite seasons.

"So" Kate said feeling warmer but felt no need to move away from Jack, "I guess its time for the talk huh?"

Jack chuckled at her tone and he couldn't help teasing her, "Yes Kate it is that time, you see Kate when a man and a woman feel very strongly for each other, they want to show how they feel in a very specific way." He stopped when Kate smacked him on the arm.

"Oh I think you can skip that talk Jack. It won't do me any good anyway." She said rolling her eyes but gently rubbing her stomach.

"Ok well I guess we decided that you would be moving here." Jack said picking up her hand and rubbing it gently. "I think we've also decided we are a couple" he said.

Kate looked at him thoughtfully. "I guess we are aren't we?" she said with a small smile.

Jack smiled back at her, "It's funny a day hasn't passed since then that I haven't thought of you."

"Me too" Kate said her eyes growing soft as she looked at him. Jack wanted to ask why she left but decided that could come at the end of the discussion

"I know you wanted to look for your own place but I can't help think it would be best if you just moved in with me. I have all this room; we can turn the

guest bedroom into a nursery, paint it and everything. This is a good building and the people are nice and I think we could finagle free babysitting from Rose whenever we need. We're close to the downtown area and you also get a built in doctor whenever you need one." He said gently touching her stomach. "So what do you think of that?" he asked nervously.

Kate chewed on her lip, she had figured she'd need a place to say, she never imagined she'd end up in Jack's place with him asking her to move in. She liked the idea of being so close to Jack and it was a nice building. It wouldn't be too constricting to stay with Jack. It beat the constricting pain she felt when she had to leave him behind those some four months ago.

"I think I'd like that" Kate said with a shy smile and Jack grinned and kissed the top of her head.

"Well I guess we'll have to go out to Vegas and get your things. I have a lot of vacation time owed me so I could get off work." Jack said figuring things out in his head.

Kate shook her head, "I really don't need to go back, I traveled with all my important possessions. I could have my friend Shannon just box up the rest of my things and ship them out to me. I don't have a contract on my apartment I just pay month to month so I can just let him know I'm moving. Plus I need to ship some things back to Shannon." Kate said blushing slightly embarrassed.

"What things?" Jack asked.

"Well the winter jacket and a couple of sweaters. Her family lives in Colorado so she had cold weather clothes for me to borrow when I cam out here. I wasn't really expecting for things to happen so quickly, or for me to actually stay out here." Kate said playing with the fringe of the blanket. She was embarrassed by the fact she didn't even own a winter jacket.

Jack sensed her embarrassment and tried to smooth things over. "Well that's good, I'd hate for you to have bought things that over the next few month will have to be replaced by your growing tummy." He said affectionately. Kate looked up at him with a small smile, she had never really thought of that and it made sense.

"Maybe you can help me find a bank and I can transfer my account here too." Kate said. She started thinking of how much money she had and what she was going to be spending on wardrobe se chewed her lip nervously she was going to have to find a job.

Jack could see the wheels turning in Kate's head and he sighed, he was really dreading this part of the conversation.

"Ok so I need to talk to you about something but you have to promise to hear me completely out before you get angry with me or ignore me." Jack said and Kate shot him a strange look.

"Um ok" she said wondering what it was that he was going to say.

"I don't want you to worry about money." He held his hand up as if knowing she would argue with him. "Just listen please and then you can say whatever you want. I know you want to support yourself and I'm completely behind you on that. It's important to me as well that you can care for yourself and the baby in case something was to happen to me. I respect your independence. However, right now you're moving to a new city and you're not working. There are things you are going to need, like maternity clothes and such. I'm asking you to allow me to buy those things for you, because those things are also for my baby as well, like a winter jacket. Now if you want to find a job I will support you a hundred percent however I'm asking until the baby is born that maybe you find a job that isn't too physical straining or stressful. I don't see any reason to put you or the baby in risk when there is no need to. Now after the baby is here and you want to work somewhere else that's fine. I'm just asking for the remaining months for you to take it easy. I know it doesn't look like it by my décor but I do have money Kate, and it's just sitting there not being used. I want you to use that money for you and the baby. It's also my right as the father to support this child and I plan on doing that. The nursery, baby clothes, diapers all of that I want to help pay for those things. I also want to look into my medical plan and see if I can get you and the baby on my insurance. I'll also help you find an OBGYN as well if your doctor back in Vegas doesn't know of anyone." Jack said watching Kate for her reaction.

Kate took a deep breath in actuality Jack's argument made a lot of sense and she almost hated that she couldn't argue with him. It also made her feel giddy that he knew her well enough and respect her enough to compromise with her.

"Ok" she said thinking. "I will agree to your terms but you have to agree to mine. I know you want to do all of this and I appreciate it, I can't even begin to explain to you how relieved and stunned I am at that all of this is happening the way it is. I do want that paternity test. Part of my stress is coming from worry about all the remarks and looks and rumors you are going to have to deal with. If you want to support this child then I want to have proof for you." Kate said.

Jack realized this would be something Kate wanted. "Ok I understand you feel the need to do this, but I don't want you to do it for me. If you need to do it for yourself than that's fine but don't do this test for me Kate. I believe you and I believe this is my child. If you were lying you wouldn't be so set on doing this. Now I'm willing to wait until the baby is born and we can do a paternity test then. It would be just a simple blood test. The test they do while you're pregnant involves sticking a very large needle in your belly and extracting DNA that way. It can be very dangerous."

Kate sat up deep in thought and looked at Jack slightly stunned. "Jack, my family has a history of MS when I first went in they did a test similar to that and everything was ok. If they kept the result can we test that?" When they told her of the procedure she had been so nervous she really didn't pay attention to the name of it, she wasn't sure how they did the paternity test but if its already been done than she could finally have her proof for Jack and all the Anas in the world.

Jack looked at her still trying to contemplate what she was saying. "They ran an Amnio on you? Everything was ok?" he was more worried about that then the paternity test.

"Yes, everything's fine, but jack can we use it." Kate asked grabbing his arm.

"Well yeah if they ran all the tests including paternity I can have my own DNA run and they can compare the results." Jack said thoughtfully.

"Can we find out? Can we call and find out if they did?" Kate was like a kid at Christmas. Jack looked at her slightly amused.

"I guess so." He watched as Kate jumped up and grabbed her purse, she dug around and pulled out an address book. She opened it at handed it to him.

"That's my doctor's number we can call her right now." Kate said.

Jack chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Kate it's not so easy."

"Why not? You're a doctor I can call and ask and we can get your blood tested and they can send us the results." Kate said.

Jack looked at her and realized how lucky he was to have this woman in his life. He reached out and gently clasped his hand on the back of her head and drew her to him and he kissed her deeply. Kate whimpered and returned the kiss hungrily as he tasted her mouth with his tongue. Kate scooted closer and they broke away to catch their breath.

"Wow" Kate said trying to calm herself.

Jack smiled, "You are truly amazing you know that right?"

Kate smiled, and brushed her lips across his gently, "Can we call?"

Jack laughed at her stubbornness, "Yes, we can call."

Kate squealed and reached for the phone and began to dial. She scooted close to Jack and took his hand in hers. After a few minutes she asked to speak to her doctor and was put on hold.

"Dr. Reynolds? This is Kate Austen. I'm good thank you, actually I was calling about a couple things, first I'm actually sitting here with the father of the baby. Yeah I found him, I'm actually planning on moving out here to be with him so I was wondering if you knew of any good doctors in Chicago I could go to. Really that would be great let me give you the phone number you can reach me." Kate gave the doctor Jack's phone number. "I also had another question, when you ran that test to check for the MS did you run a DNA test as well? You did, really ok is there anyway you can send that information to Jack's hospital, here let me put him on the phone." Kate handed Jack the phone and he discussed the test results with the doctor and Kate didn't quite understand the conversation. Then he gave her the hospital's information and hung up. He then quickly dialed another number.

"Hey Mike its Jack, I need a favor, I have some test results coming in from Las Vegas General and I need you to run them against my DNA sample that I donated a couple months ago. Right, yeah she's going to fax the information now so you should be getting it soon. Ok yeah thanks ok." He hung up and looked at Kate who was watching him. "Ok he's going to look over the results and get back to me, maybe even by tonight."

"You have a DNA sample on file?" Kate asked and Jack chuckled.

"Don't panic its nothing shady, we were doing a DNA simulation and I volunteered. My blood isn't there but the charts and graphs are." Jack said. "The longest part of DNA testing is the actual analysis. Since we've both already done that they just have to read the results and get back to me. Normally it's more formal but Mike and I go way back so he's doing it as a favor for me."

Kate grinned, "So we've decided I'm moving in with you and you are going to help pay for a lot. What else do we need to discuss?" Kate asked leaning forward and gently brushing her lips across his neck. Jack smiled and pulled away.

"Well we have a lot settled but there is still things we should no about each other." He said with a smirk.

Kate surprised him by quickly crawling into his lap, straddling him. "My full name is Katherine Elizabeth Austen, I'm 28 I grew up in Nevada, I work in Vegas, I'm a vegetarian but I have agreed to eat meat so the baby can get proper proteins. I'm an only child and both my parents are gone. My dad left when I was born and my mom passed away when I was 19. I love chocolate and my favorite color is green. You are a spinal surgeon, you live in Chicago. You don't drink a lot and you from your orders in Vegas you love Italian food. You were once married to a shrew named Sarah but by the luck of the draw you managed to escape her. You're parents don't deserve you and you have a lot of really nice friends." Jack gave her a slightly stunned look as she went on her tirade. Kate rolled her eyes, "Jack we know everything about each other that we need to know. Everything else we can learn along the way. So now take me to bed." Kate said and she hungrily took his mouth with hers.

Jack returned the kiss stroking her back running his fingers up the back of her shirt. Kate was stroking his tongue with her own and she was pressing against him to be tighter. He stood to his feet keeping Kate with him and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. She moaned excitedly as Jack began to bring her to the bedroom. She pressed her pelvis against his and ran her hands through his hair. They broke from the kiss to breathe but quickly crushed their mouths against each others again. Jack broke away and buried his face into her neck licking and nibbling at the sensitive skin. They hadn't moved from their spot and Kate whimpered.

"Forget the bedroom Jack; here just love me on the couch." She begged. Jack turned her and laid her on the couch and followed as she wrapped herself around him cradling him with her legs and arms.

Kate frantically tore at his shirt as he placed heated kisses on her neck and by her ear. Frustrated she let out a moan and Jack sensed her agitation so he quickly ripped off his shirt for her. He then pulled hers over her head and she attacked his jeans. She unbuttoned them and pulled the zipper down and was just about to slip her hand inside when the phone rang.

Jack let out a curse that made Kate giggle then she looked at him, "Could it be Mike?'

Jack quickly snatched the phone and answered as he stayed on top of her and Kate gently caressed his chest.

"Hey Mike" and Kate looked up quickly. "I'm going to put you on speaker hold on a second." Jack hit a button. "Ok go ahead."

"Well I gotta tell you this was the easiest analysis I've ever had to do; I just basically had to hold two scans up next to each other." Mike said with a chuckle. Jack leaned down and brushed Kate's lips with his own neither could wait much longer for the results. "Well Jack all I gotta say is congratulations you're a father." Mike said with a smile in his voice. Kate was so thrilled she hugged him close pulling him down to her.

"Thanks Mike" Jack called as he hit the end button on the phone. He then found himself being kissed senseless by Kate.

"I told you" Jack said with a smirk and Kate giggled.

"I just wanted you to know for sure." She said feeling so full of emotion. Jack stroked her check gently. "Where were we?" she gasped as Jack kissed her shoulder. She pushed his jeans down with her legs and he kicked them off. He unbuttoned Kate's pants and pulled them down. While he was doing that Kate quickly stripped her bra off and Jack reached up and pulled her panties down so she was completely naked. Jack looked at her naked body and his eyes fell to her slightly bulging tummy. He gave her a sweet smile and placed gentle kisses along her stomach. Kate felt her eyes fill with tears as he paid her stomach such soft attention. She wanted him right then more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.

"Jack, now" she said and Jack moved up her body as he quickly stripped off his boxers. He kissed her sensually and Kate lifted her legs higher around his waist and waited for him to claim her. He gently gripped her thighs and was about to enter her when the lights went out and they were plunged into darkness.

Ok so please read and review and I know the DNA thing was all so convenient but that's the joy of the fanfic world, I can make things just happen when I want to.


	12. Chapter 12

Kay gang here you go here's your update. Pleas eread and review and there is a smut warning for this chapter.

**CHAPTER 12**

Jack ripped his mouth away from Kate with a string of curses that Kate was sure would traumatize their baby. He rolled away from her and grabbed his jeans the whole time muttering under his breath. Kate would have been amused if she wasn't so frustrated as well. Her whole body was tingling from the anticipation of finally becoming one with Jack again. Unfortunately that didn't happen and all Kate was left with was a revved up body and no relief in sight. Jack leaned over and covered Kate's nude body with a blanket.

"Stay here, I'm going to go see what the hell is going on." he looked at Kate thoughtfully as her face was lit by the moon. Jack shook his head, when had it turned to night it seems like just moments before he and Kate were walking in from lunch. "Don't move," he whispered kissing her gently, "Please god just stay right where you are." Kate nodded, she planned on staying right here so Jack could come back and they can finish what they both desperately needed and craved.

Jack opened his front door and saw that the hallway was completely dark as well. He stepped back and grabbed his shoes and shirt donning them on quickly. "I'm going to see if Bernard has heard anything. If the power is out for awhile we might have to leave. The temps are dangerously low so we have to be careful." Jack said to Kate placing a soft kiss on her forehead before he exited the apartment. Kate let her head fall back on the couch as she tried to cool her aching body. She hated not having him and she found that she hated watching him walk out the door. She remembered the last time she watched him walk out the door to leave her alone. He had gone to his last conference and Kate had stayed in bed flipping through the television channels eagerly awaiting his return. That was when the phone had rung.

_Kate wasn't sure if she should answer but thought perhaps it was Jack, maybe he forgot something, so she grabbed the receiver._

"_Hello" she said hoping to hear the sexy doctor's voice on the other end._

"_Hello Kate." The voice sent chills down her spine and she felt herself freeze up when she heard it._

"_What do you want." She asked her voice low and bare._

"_Now is that the way you talk to the man you love." The voice said._

"_I don't love you; I hate you that's why I left you in the first place." Kate spat out._

_The voice became cold and dark. "I'd be very careful about hurting my feelings Kate. Did you know I am standing in the lobby of your hotel right now? In fact I just saw your doctor friend, Jack isn't it." _

"_I don't believe you," Kate said._

"_Aww Kate, you know I have a lot of friends in this city. Imagine my shock and hurt when word gets back to me that you've shacked up with some out of towner and you haven't left his room in almost three days." The voice said._

_Kate bit her lip he was right he did know where she was. He could be outside her door at that very moment. Kate looked around the room and quickly grabbed her clothes and dressed while holding the phone to her ear. She wished desperately Jack was still here with her. _

"_Are you still there my love?" the voice asked._

"_Don't call me that" Kate hissed angrily._

"_Oh that's right you're letting Jack call you that aren't you?" the voice asked darkly._

"_What if I am?" Kate asked haughtily. "I'm single, he's single and we like each other."_

"_Do you think he'll like you when he finds out what kind of girl you are Kate? The kind of girl who cheats on one man while having a torrid affair with some doctor she met at a bar?" The voice asked mockingly._

"_I'm not cheating on anyone because the last person I was with I dumped because I realized what a loser and waste of space he was!" Kate yelled angrily. "Jack knows that I'm all his" she said viciously._

_There was silence on the phone and then the voice spoke again. "He's a surgeon right? God wouldn't that be horrible if some kind of accident should befall him? Like, I don't know he gets jumped, dragged off and loses a finger or two, that would just be horrible."_

_Kate felt the chills run down her spine "Don't you dare hurt him" she said her voice tinged with anger and fear._

"_Oh Kate, you would be the one hurting him. The longer you stay with him, the more you allow him to touch you, the more likely it is that he will be hurt." The voice was matter of fact._

"_No" Kate said her eyes filling with tears. Jack was a good man and in these last couple days Kate had fallen for him, he brought out feelings in her she had never felt before. She couldn't allow him to be punished for her past mistakes. "Promise me if I walk out this door right now you won't touch him." Kate begged._

_The voice sighed, "Fair enough Kate, you leave now and we'll both forget this weekend ever happened. Besides it's not Jack's fault that you lied to him and told him you were single. It has to be this way Kate you and Jack just could never be together. So be a good girl and come on downstairs and I'll be waiting for you. You have three minutes Kate; it shouldn't take you that long to get down here."_

_With that the phone went dead; Kate hung the receiver up with shaky hands. She chewed her lip nervously as she stood and looked around the room. She gathered her things the whole time her body racked with chills. She made it to the door and she turned back and saw the bed with the rumpled sheets. She felt the hot tears fill her eyes and spill over her cheeks. She wanted desperately to crawl back in beneath the covers and wait for Jack to come back and make love to her. She couldn't though as much as she wanted and needed that she couldn't allow her own selfishness to jeopardize Jack. She wished she could leave a note but she would have to lie and she couldn't do that, she wouldn't do that. She whispered his name softly as she was overcome with emotion and stepped out into the hallway and went to meet the devil himself._

Kate shivered as she remembered the hell that would follow; she had wanted to call Jack but had been afraid. If it had been just a fling for him then why would he care about her or her problems? Now looking back she realized she should have just called him and they could have been reunited earlier. Kate was sure she would have never found the courage to find him that was until fate stepped in and Kate found she was bearing his child. She stood from the couch wrapping the blanket around her as she looked out the window. The building next door was dark so Kate figured the whole block must be without electricity. It's funny every time she and Jack got close something always interrupted them. It was almost like they were cursed, like when that bastard had said she and Jack could never be together. Kate scoffed at that thought. He was dead and Kate was free to be with whomever she chose to be with. She realized she needed to tell Jack everything. She clutched the blanket nervously, what if he tossed her out or hated her. She didn't get much time to dwell on that because Jack came back through the door.

He stopped when he saw Kate at the window wearing nothing but the blanket as she was illuminated by the moonlight. She looked like a mythical goddess and Jack was stunned by her beauty. After a few seconds and realizing he was just staring at her and she was looking at him with raised eyebrows he shook his head clearing his thoughts.

"Hey." He carefully moved to the kitchen and opened a drawer, she heard him rattle around and then he came back and handed her something. She looked down and was pleased to see a flashlight. "Come on he gently lead her to the couch and sat down pulling her directly next to him. Kate smiled as their thighs brushed gently against each other. "I just talked to Bernard and it seems there was some kind of car accident and someone hit the electric pole. Anyway it crashed into a generator and it seems we're out of electricity. They told Bernard that they could have it back running by tomorrow at the latest. We have two choices, either leave and find a hotel, or stay here and just pile blankets on the bed. We will be ok for one night, we had the apartment warm before it heater shut off so it will last. If its not on by tomorrow then we should leave. I don't want to risk you or the baby."

"Does the fireplace in the bedroom work or is it just for show?" Kate asked.

Jack smiled, "No it works in fact mine and a few others are the only ones that have them."

Kate smiled, "So we could start a fire and snuggle down with a bunch of blankets and we should be fine right, I mean people in the old days had to do that right?"

Jack smiled at her; he leaned forward and kissed her on the side of the head. "Sounds perfect."

Kate smiled proudly that Jack liked her idea, she suddenly had another. "Ooh you have hot dogs; we could roast them like we we're camping out." She said excitedly. Jack grinned at her enthusiasm,

"Ok you round up the food and I will go load the bed with blankets." Jack said with a sweet smile. He kissed her gently and then carefully headed to his room careful of the darkness. Kate threw her clothes on, feeling slightly sad to do that, but she and Jack had the whole night to pick up where they left off. It also wasn't a coincidence that she had mentioned food she was getting hungry. She searched his kitchen grabbing everything they needed; she headed to the bedroom where Jack was closing the curtains.

"What is it not dark enough for you? Kate said putting the food on the bed, she turned and was thrilled to see he had started the fire and it was building gradually.

"Very funny, no I'm just trying to keep the cold air from the windows out. You ready?" Kate grinned and they roasted their hot dogs eating and talking and just enjoying being together. When they were done Jack cleaned up while Kate changed into pajamas that consisted of sweat pants a t-shirt, a sweater and socks. She turned to see Jack watching her and she blushed as he gave her a hungry look, even with all the ridiculous clothing on.

"You know," he said watching her. "The best way to stay warm is to share body heat with another person." Jack said steeping into the room. Kate found she couldn't look away.

"Really?" her voice came out raspy.

"Yup, not with lots of clothes but by simply sleeping naked with someone." Jack was now in front of her and Kate felt her heart leap in her throat and she struggled to not jump him right then and there.

"I guess we could get naked." Kate said seeing his eyes in the light of the fire.

"Maybe we should" Jack said and with that he leaned down and took her mouth with his hungrily. Kate suddenly cursed the layers of clothes as she quickly tried to strip herself and him of their clothing. Jack had been persistent and before Kate knew it she was just down to her t-shirt and socks. She watched as Jack stripped his shirt off and was only wearing his jeans. He leaned down and kissed her again. It was a hungry kiss but Kate also felt it was different; it was full of emotion as well, it felt like love.

"Jack wait, stop for a second." Kate said pulling away from the sweet embrace.

Jack did stop though it took every nerve in his body to do so. He looked at her concerned, "What's wrong?" he asked, he had thought they were both on the same page about finally being together. Kate took him by the hand and pushed him gently to sit on the bed. She sat beside him holding his hand within her own she gave him a nervous smile.

"I want to tell you why I left." She felt Jack straighten and tense slightly but he didn't say anything so Kate continued. "First you need to know I didn't want to leave, in fact I cried the whole way out the hotel." Jack looked at her curiously he was about to question her when she spoke again. "Before I met you I had been involved with a man named Anthony Liganelli. He was very powerful in Vegas; he was a bookie and was very rich. When I first started dating him he was sweet and kind, he would shower me with gifts even when I begged him not to. Somehow things changed though and I began to learn that the Anthony I fell in love with was not the same man who I was living with. He had a horrible temper; soon he was flying off the handle for no reason at me. He would accuse me of cheating and accusing me of all kinds of things. Then he began to hit me." She lowered her head and noticed Jack's hand clench tightly she looked up at his face and saw a furious glint in his eye. She eyed him warily. "Are you mad at me?" she whispered. Hearing her soft and hesitant voice dragged Jack back to reality. He looked down at her and shook his head firmly.

"No, no Kate I'm not mad at you, I'm sorry if you thought I was. I'm pissed at this Anthony for laying a hand on you. I want to rip him limb to limb for doing that to you. You are so beautiful and caring and gentle and you should have always been treated as such." Jack said gently caressing her cheek. Kate gave him a soft smile; he made her feel all those things and so much more. She cleared her throat and continued.

"Anyway, I realized I needed to get away, I needed money so I went to Kolision and got my own job so I could make my own money, I even let my boss know why I was doing it because I knew if Anthony found out he could make some calls and get me fired. My boss was cool though and said he didn't bend to anyone so if I was good I could stay and he didn't care who my boyfriend was. I got together enough money to move out and get my own place. Anthony was shocked. I was afraid but it was strange it was like he just let me go, but then he began calling and sending me things. I returned them and ignored him. All I wanted was enough money to get out of Vegas and I was almost there. That's when I met you." She looked up and smiled shyly at him and Jack leaned down and kissed her gently. She smiled against his mouth, "I wanted to stay with you, but you were the first man I'd been with since Anthony and he found out about us. He called the room after you left, he told me he'd hurt you if I stayed with you. Jack I've scene him do horrible thing and I knew he'd make good on his threat. I asked him if I went with him would he promise to leave you alone and he said yes. I had to leave Jack I couldn't have you hurt." Tears welled in her eyes and Jack went to pull her close but she stood and began to pace. "So I did what he asked, I left with him and he acted like everything was fine, he dropped me off at my apartment and that was it. It was like a delayed reaction he showed up a week later yelling and screaming and calling me names. He was asking me how I could cheat on him and all of this stuff."

"He said he was going to kill you to punish me and I snapped I hit him as hard as I could and he was just as stunned as I was. He went ballistic though and he pushed me down, he tried to rape me. I got my hand around a letter opener and…I killed him Jack. The police came and said it was self defense but I felt like a murderer. I wanted to find you but I was ashamed. That monster almost got involved in your life and it was all my fault. Then I found I was pregnant and realized that I needed to find you. I never expected this Jack. I never expected you to want me the way I want you, or to want to raise the baby with me. I never wanted my past to touch you but I felt that I owed you an explanation. I understand if you don't want me anymore." She said looking at the carpet her heart pounding in her chest. Suddenly Jack was in front of her and was tilting her face up to look at him what she saw in his eyes made her weak in the knees. All she saw was love and acceptance.

"You are not a murderer" he said forcefully. "You have nothing to be ashamed of and I don't ever want to hear you talk badly about yourself all right? Jesus Kate you stayed alive, you saved your life and the life of our baby. You did what you had to do and I'm proud of you. Anthony brought this on himself not you. As for not wanting you that will never happen Kate. These last four months I've been miserable. I wanted so badly to find you but I didn't because I thought I'd be bothering you. I thought you regretted us when I came back to find you gone."

"Never" Kate said shaking her head tears in her eyes as he loved her with soothing words.

"I can't change what happened but you're here now and we're having a baby and that is all that matters to me. I just want you and that's it." Jack said looking her in the eyes. Kate lifted her feet and pulled her socks off and then pulled her shirt off so she stood before him completely nude.

"Love me" she whispered and opened her arms to him. Jack didn't have to be told twice. He scooped her up in his embrace and carried her to the bed. He settled her and pulled back to just take in her beautiful body as the firelight danced off of her. He unbuttoned his jeans and slid them off and was nude as well. He crawled under the blankets and joined her in the bed. The room had stayed fairly warm with the fire going but he was glad he had brought extra blankets in. Kate tugged on him pulling him down so their lips could meet in a sweet kiss. Jack opened his mouth and was pleased when her tongue entered his mouth and soon they were kissing with everything they had. Jack wanted to take it slow and experience every part of her body. He broke the kiss and pulled up to kneel between her legs. He gently parted them and settled between them and brought her to his mouth. Kate let out a gasp as Jack's tongue entered her and all she could do was grip the sheets as Jack loved her with his mouth. Kate felt the pressure building and she wiggled within his grasp but he would not let her go. After a few moments Kate's back arched off the bed and she came loudly crying out his name. Jack gave her a second to recover before dragging his lips up her body. He kissed her all over paying special attention to her slight baby bump. Kate's eyes filled with happy tears as she watched him nuzzle their unborn baby. He moved up and took a breast in his mouth and lightly sucked and licked at her nipple. Kate could feel her body revving again and she was shocked so soon after an orgasm that she would be this ready. He moved his mouth to her other nipple and Kate let out a whimper.

She stroked his back and ran her fingers through his hair as she wrapped her legs around him hugging him close. Jack moved from her breast and kissed his way up her shoulder to her neck. He lightly nipped at her skin and Kate tightened her grip on him.

"Please Jack" she begged and Jack pulled away and pulled himself to lie atop of her fully. He bent and took her mouth in a sensual kiss and Kate wriggled beneath him needing him to release her ache with the hardness she felt gently rubbing against her.

Jack reached his hand down and positioned himself at her entrance and slowly and gently entered her body. Kate whimpered and her head arched back as he connected them. It had been too long and Kate knew right then she could never again go this long without him. When he was situated all they way in her he rested his forehead on hers and didn't move but just enjoyed the feeling of being wrapped tightly within her.

"Jack," she gasped, "You're inside me"

"Yes sweetheart I am" he bit out as he tried to refrain from hammering into her and he gently moved within her at a slow pace.

Kate moaned as he moved but continued her train of thought. "So is our baby, you and the baby are in me we're all connected." She gasped breathlessly. Jack looked at her with her eyes closed her mouth slightly parted as she spoke the beautiful words to him. He leaned down and took her mouth with a little more force as he picked up the pace of his thrusts. Kate tightened her grip and just held on to him as she met his movement. Jack began to move quicker tightening his grip on her thighs and moaned appreciatively as Kate hugged him close and tightened herself around him.

"Jesus Kate," he muttered knowing his control was waning the more he pushed himself inside of her. "You fit me so perfectly."

Kate moaned and smiled. "Perfect fit" she gasped as Jack moved slightly changing their position so he was hitting her directly in the right spot. It didn't take long for her second release to overcome her and she arched and gripped him tightly crying out his name as her body became wracked with shudders of pure ecstasy. She was aware that he sped up his thrusts and seconds later was calling out her name as he emptied himself within her. They collapsed gasping for breath and each feeling sated. Jack rolled them to their sides as to not squish her. He kept them connected and smiled as Kate snuggled closer keeping her arms and legs around him. Jack found her mouth was pliable and she allowed him to kiss her deep and sensually.

"How are you?" he asked after breaking off the kiss. Kate smiled tiredly and brought his hand to rest on her stomach.

"We're doing just fine" she whispered kissing his neck. Jack grinned and hugged her close for the first time in four months he felt whole again.

Ok so there you go, please review, cause you know you want to


	13. Chapter 13

Ok everyone here's the next update Be warned of smut and all around Jate fluff

**CHAPTER 13**

Kate awoke to the delicious sensation of lips running down her throat to the back of her ear. She moaned in pleasure as she opened her eyes dreamily. She was lying on her left side and Jack was behind her placing kisses up and down her neck and arm.

"You finally awake?" his voice was husky and it sent chills down her spine.

"I am now" she whispered. She went to roll on her back but Jack blocked her. She looked over at him curiously and he gave her a small smile.

"Lift your leg" he ordered and Kate did and as she moved her right leg she felt him move his legs between hers. She let out a whimper as she felt him press his body against hers. Jack slowly and gently entered her from behind and Kate's head fell back to be braced by his shoulder. She tilted her head back and he bent over her and their lips met in a crushing kiss as he moved in and out of her. Kate whimpered as he loved her feeling like she had almost no control so all she could do is just enjoy what he was doing to her. He slipped her arms around her, one to caress her breasts and the other worked its way down her body and he gently flicked her clit and Kate jerked in his arms.

Jack pressed harder and sped up his thrusts encouraged by the noises Kate was making. He could feel her begin to tighten so he knew she was close. He moved his mouth right over her ear.

"Come for me baby, come on. I need to feel you tighten around me. You feel so good come on Kate come for me." Jack whispered.

Kate shuddered as his words and breath caressed her ear and within seconds she was grabbing the sheets and squeezing them hard as her release took over her. She whimpered and moaned his name as it felt like it was never going to end. She had gripped him within her so tight she could feel every inch of him and every time he thrust back in she wanted to hold him inside of her. Suddenly she heard him shout and she felt him jerk inside her body and she was flooded with his release.

Moments later they both lay in the bed trying to catch their breaths. Jack gently eased out of her and they both moaned at the loss of the contact. Kate lazily rolled over so she was facing him. Jack's eyes were closed and he had a completely sated look on his face. Kate felt happy that she could do that for him. She leaned up and nuzzled his nose with her own. His eyes fluttered open and Kate found herself getting lost in the deep rich brown eyes that she hoped their baby would inherit.

"Hi" she said with a small smile. Jack moved his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. He buried his face in her neck as he breathed in her scent.

"Hello" he said brushing his lips against her shoulder. Kate smiled at the affection he showed her. In all her life she had never been with a man who was so gentle and loving. Even when loving her hard and fast there was a care he took in not hurting her.

She stroked his hair and he leaned up from her shoulder and their lips met in a slow and lazy kiss.

"You must feel pretty good about yourself" she said with a giggle, "Making a girl wake up like that"

"That's the Jack Shephard wake up call, doctor recommended." Jack said biting her lower lip gently.

Kate sighed happily, "I could definitely get used to waking up every morning like that." She said stretching languorously.

Jack stroked her hair. "Well you better get used to it cause if I have my way, you're going to wake up everyday like that"

Kate shivered and buried her face in his neck as he gently played with her hair. They had talked about her moving in with him and being a couple but Kate couldn't help the thought of marriage jumping into her head. No way was she going to bring that up. She and Jack had connected on all levels and she wasn't going to scare him or risk running him off by bringing up the M word. She was ok with having a baby out of wedlock, obviously it wasn't the way she had planned it but things happen. She had the father of the baby and they were together and that was all she was going to hope for, at least for now anyway.

She leaned back and stroked his cheek, "Do you have to go to work?" she asked.

Jack shook his head, "Nope, when you were asleep I called in sick"

Kate grinned liking the idea of playing hookey with the doctor but then she felt kind of bad. "Jack I don't want you to miss work because of me. You should save your sick days for when you're actually sick" she said caressing his cheek.

Jack looked down and gave her a smile that Kate would almost classify as shy.

"Remember when I told you I had some vacation time in case you needed to go back to Vegas?" he asked and Kate nodded. "Well the thing is since working at the hospital for about five years I've never used a sick day or vacation time"

Kate looked at him stunned, "Well what did you do when you were sick?"

"I usually just loaded up on vitamins and forced myself through the day." Jack said with a shrug.

Kate looked at him and shook her head, "My poor deprived Jack, no wonder you nailed the first waitress you saw in Vegas" she smiled and Jack let out a laugh. "You have never had much fun have you?" she asked stroking his chin.

"Never had much time, I work with my father so he's usually always breathing down my neck" Jack said.

"Well that's about to change, you're going to be a father Jack and I want you to be around to raise this baby not dead because you had a stress induced heart attack at a young age." She said and she was dead serious. "We're going to start having fun and living life"

Jack gave her a wicked grin and pulled her on top of him. "Fun huh?" he asked and Kate let out a moan as he entered her once again.

"Oh yeah lots of fun" she whispered. "In and out of the bedroom. You are a passionate man Jack and I can't wait to unleash it fully" she gasped as he thrust up deep within her. They soon became entangled in each other and the blankets as they made love again.

Some time later Jack was in the kitchen preparing food, the electricity had come back on just as Bernard had promised and Kate was in the shower. He had finally managed to drag himself out of bed when he had heard her stomach growl and remembered he needed to feed her and his baby.

There was a knock at the door and Jack licked the peanut butter of his thumb and threw the knife in the sink, he wondered who it could be now. He felt like ever since he brought Kate home his front door might as well be revolving.

He opened the door and was shocked to see his father standing there.

"You don't look very sick to me" Christian Shephard said walking past Jack without even as much as a hello.

"Hello Father" Jack said rubbing his eyes. Suddenly his phone rang. Jack answered it with a sigh.

"Oh Jack I'm so sorry" It was Rose. "Your father is here I told him he had to be rung up but he just charged right through to the elevators."

"It's ok thank you" Jack said feeling a tension headache coming.

"Sorry again" Rose said and he hung up the phone he looked at his father expectantly. There was no need to waste time with chit chat or questions of each others well beings when it was obvious to Jack his father didn't really care.

"I heard from the Chief of Staff you called in sick today, you look fine to me so get dressed and finish out your shift." Christian demanded.

"No Father, I'm not sick. But thanks for stopping by and checking up on me it means a lot" Jack said sarcastically.

Kate had come out of the bathroom and was changing when she had heard the knock on the door. Thinking it might be one of his neighbors she had started to come out of the bedroom when she heard Jack talking to a man. It was the tones of their voices that made her halt where she was and slowly sneak into the bedroom to listen without being seen. She realized after a few minutes the man was Jack's father and he was berating Jack for not being at work. Kate rolled her eyes, he hadn't missed one day of work in five years and his father was acting like Jack was a total screw up. She immediately disliked his parents when he spoke about them but just hearing his father speak made her loathe him even more. She figured for Jack's sake to just stay out of the way. The last thing Jack needed was to have to explain to his father that she was a cocktail waitress he managed to knock up when he should have been at some boring conference. She listened as they kept speaking in their biting tones and it worried her to hear Jack like this. He sounded so stressed and unhappy.

"I took a personal day father, sue me." Jack said.

"That's right Jack lets turn this on me like I'm the bad guy. I'm not the one who didn't show up for work today and neglected my responsibilities." Christian said condescendingly.

"I didn't neglect anything I called in had it approved and I even have Wilson covering my shift even though the chief said there was no need." Jack said.

Christian snorted, "Wilson is an amateur. If you actually bothered to live up to your abilities one day you would see having someone like Wilson covering your shifts is an insult."

Jack shook his head knowing nothing he could say would make a lick of difference. Jack could save fifty people from a burning building and Christian would criticize him for not being there earlier and putting the fire out before the entire building was ablaze.

"Well I did it and it's over now if you're done lecturing me you know where the door is" Jack said.

Christian let his eyes wander over Jack's apartment with a sneer of disgust. Jack could afford to live in a bigger better house but chose to remain here in this dump. Christian sighed; this was why Jack was such a disappointment to him. He could be and have so much but he never showed the initiative. It was then that Christian's eyes fell on a woman's pair of shoes.

"Where is she?" he asked and Jack gave him a confused look.

"Where's who?" he asked.

"The woman that obviously has something to do with you missing work." Christian said rolling his eyes.

Jack stared at him blankly and then followed his father's gaze to Kate's shoes. "They belong to a woman named Kate and she isn't the reason why I'm not at work. I wanted to take a day off and so I did."

"Your responsibility is to the hospital and…" Christian started.

"My responsibilities have changed Father." Jack said loudly and Kate bit her lip nervously still peeking out of the bedroom, here comes the big reveal.

"Explain yourself" Christian said not happy about being shouted at.

Jack looked his father dead in the eye. "I'm going to be a father; Kate is pregnant with my baby. And before you can say something totally insulting the paternity test has already been run from an amnio and I am the father. My responsibility lies with them now and not to breaking my neck at the hospital so I can run myself into an early grave." Jack said and Kate held back from cheering out loud as Jack stood up for himself. She guessed he had never done that much before.

Christian stared at Jack completely stunned but the speechlessness only lasted for a couple of seconds.

"You got some girl pregnant? This is so like you Jack, only you would manage to bomb your own career by knocking some woman up." Christian spat out.

Jack chuckled coldly and bitterly. "Gee thanks Dad, I'm happy about the baby too" Jack practically snarled as he spoke. "Don't even presume to know anything about mine and Kate's relationship, cause it doesn't concern you. For her sake I have no intention of ever introducing her to you or mother and as for the baby, Kate's parents are gone so basically this child will have no grandparents. So from this moment on what I do with my life has no bearing on you."

Kate felt so bad for Jack that this was what he had to deal with for parents and she hoped Christian would see how wonderful a son he has.

"You will not speak to me like that" Christian bit out. "I am still your father"

"You were never my father" exclaimed Jack. "You and mother passed me off to nannies and ignored me until I got old enough for you to start making demands. You're the template I will use on how not to raise a child" Jack said.

Suddenly there was a crack and a loud noise. Kate gasped and leaned out to see Jack sitting on the floor rubbing his jaw while Christian stood over him fists clenched. Kate's eyes widened. The son of a bitch had just hit Jack, his own child. Without a second thought Kate rushed from the bedroom and stopped in the living room when two pairs of eyes turned to her. Kate gave Christian the coldest look she could muster and quickly went and knelt at Jack's side.

"Are you ok?" she asked gently touching his jaw and wincing as he cringed.

"Yeah I'm fine" Jack said squeezing her arm reassuringly. She helped him to his feet and he sat on the couch. Kate sat directly next to him their legs touching as she tried to examine his jaw. She may not be a doctor but an abusive relationship taught her everything she ever needed to know about painful blows to the face and the damage they could cause.

"Well this must be Kate" Christian voice was condescending, Jack started to talk but Kate got there first.

"And you must be someone who doesn't even register on my scale of importance" she said flippantly. She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Jack's jaw and he was watching her amused. His father had barely hit him but Kate was acting like his jaw had been broken. He kind of liked how she was caring for him, he wasn't used to that kind of affection.

"I beg your pardon" Christian sputtered.

"Don't bother" Kate said giving him a dirty look.

"Well Jack looks like you got yourself a strong willed woman. How long do you think it will be before you manage to break her and she leaves you just like Sarah?" Christian asked and both Jack and Kate tensed.

"Jack doesn't need to worry about me being anything like Sarah" Kate said remembering how Jack said his parents had liked the Ice Queen. "I'm not some low, money hungry, gold digger. I can actually support myself and don't need a man to do it for me, unlike that sniveling little shrew. I'm with Jack because he is everything good and kind and wonderful any girl would be lucky to have a man like him." Kate defended.

"Well my dear it looks like you are in for a fall" Christian said with a smirk. "My son is nothing but a failure and he will eventually fail you"

Jack went still and quiet but Kate stood and went toe to toe with the older man. "The only way Jack could ever fail me is if he turned out to be like you" Kate spat angrily. "He's everything you're not and I bet it drives you insane that your son has surpassed you in all fields. I was in Vegas during the medical convention a couple months ago and I heard all the other doctors talking about Jack, like he was a hero or something. They adored him and his medical skills yet your name never came up, no one ever said anything about the great Shep taking over after his old man. Nope you weren't even an afterthought in all those doctors' minds." Kate said with a smirk. "You're jealous of Jack, that's why you treat him this way, well he doesn't need you. What, cause you're family he should keep you around? I've met his friends and they are more family than you seem to be, he has me and our baby now and he will sure as hell surpass you as a father just like he did as a doctor." Kate spat out.

Christian looked completely shocked and had no idea what to say. So Kate helped him, "The door is behind you, I think you can figure out the rest on your own." With that she went and sat next to Jack who was still quiet and withdrawn. Kate wanted Christian to leave so she could talk to Jack and get him out of the shell his father's harsh words had driven him into. She heard the door open and close and Christian was gone.

"Jack?" she said his name softly. Jack looked at her and his eyes were filled with confusion, fear and Kate smiled it looked like love.

"No one has ever stood up or cared for me the way you just did" he said his voice in wonderment.

Kate smiled and brushed her lips across his. "You're an easy man to defend" she said.

Jack looked down and Kate could see the doubt creep into him. "He's right I am a failure. I could fail you and the baby so easily, God what the hell possessed me to think I could actually be a good father?" he cursed himself rubbing the back of his head, standing up and pacing. Kate froze as he admonished himself.

"Stop it" she said forcefully but Jack continued on.

"That's what your future looks like Kate, him. That is what you will have in your life. They say the apple never falls far from the tree." Jack said defeated.

"You are not your father Jack, you're not." Kate said angrily. "Don't you think that if I saw any of that man in you I would have come here? I could raise this baby on my own if I needed to, but I didn't want to because I recognized the caring and nurturing man that you are and I know you will be a brilliant father." Kate said, tears welling in her eyes. She had hated people in her life like Anthony but right now Kate hated his parents with everything she had. They had abused Jack, maybe not physically though she wondered about that looking at his bruised jaw. Mentally and emotionally they had taken a child that Kate would have bet was a sweet and curious little boy and they did everything they could to break his spirit. They were monsters in her eyes and she swore right then to herself and her baby that she would never let Jack's fire go out. She walked across the room and took his hand and placed it on her stomach. He tried to pull away but she wouldn't budge.

"Do you feel that Jack?" she asked tears in her eyes. "That's our baby, the culmination of you and me. This baby will grow up loved and adored by both his parents. If your mother had a heart and pressed your fathers hand against her stomach when she was pregnant with you what would he have done?" Kate asked.

Jack shook his head, "I don't know" he said letting his fingers stretch and expand over her little baby bump.

"He would have pulled away because he didn't have time to engage in such a ridiculous activity as feeling a baby through the stomach" Kate said. "What was one of the very first things you said to me when I showed up the other day?" Jack looked at her and Kate gave him a gentle smile. "You asked if you could touch my stomach" she said in a whisper her voice choking in emotion. Jack raised his head and their eyes met in a deep gaze. She was putting all of her trust in affection in her look and he was drinking it up. Suddenly they were distracted when Jack felt a slight fluttering against his hand. He looked down at her stomach shocked and the fluttering happened again. He raised his eyes to Kate and she was smiling with tears running down her face.

"The baby is kicking" he said in wonderment and Kate nodded ecstatically. This was the first time she had felt the baby really move and the fact that the little stinker chose to do it with both her and Jack made her heart swell. Jack dropped to his knees and kissed her belly.

"Hi little one" he said sweetly and Kate thought her heart would burst. "I feel you moving in there but try not to kick your mommy up too badly ok" he whispered. "I love you little one" he said kissing her belly again. He stood and Kate was in his arms hugging him tight. He was holding her and rubbing her back and for the first time felt like maybe everything would be ok. Maybe he could be with Kate and not fail her. He hugged her closer and he felt Kate kiss his cheeks his forehead and his chin. She needed to be near him and as close as possible.

"You need to eat, that's probably why the baby is kicking" Jack said as Kate slipped her hands under his t-shirt.

Kate moaned against his shoulder. "Fine but its going to be a quick meal" she said breathlessly.

"Why's that?" Jack asked with an impish grin. It was amazing how a couple kicks from their baby could completely change the mood so quickly.

"Because" Kate said with a wicked smile, "If you're not in me soon the baby isn't the only one who will be kicking and throwing a tantrum" she said brushing her lips across his.

Jack groaned his body coming to full attention at her sultry words. "Sandwich is on the table. Eat. Now. Hurry." He said in between kisses.

Kate giggled and went off to the kitchen to eat her food and Jack watched her with nothing but love and affection in his eyes.

Ok so there you go please review


	14. Chapter 14

I'm sorry it's taken me this long to update. I had bad writers block and now that that is over I've had my hours doubled at work so I'm going in at 7 in the morning and not getting home till 8 at night so I'm usually too tired to even attempt to write. On a good note I went on vacation at Disney World which Disney just happens to own ABC and Lost. I got my picture taken with Matthew Fox's shirt, unfortunately he was not in the shirt at the time the picture was taken. Sadly the shirt (the light pink one Jack wears with the sleeves ripped off) was in a glass case so I was unable to touch, smell or lick the garment hehe.

**CHAPTER 14**

Jack and Kate had indeed gone back to bed after Kate ate but later in the afternoon, Jack suggested they head downtown and do a little shopping. While Jack was in the shower Kate grabbed the phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello" came the voice of Kate's best friend Shannon.

"Shannie, it's me." Kate said as she settled on the bed comfortably. Shannon had been Kate's wall when all hell seemed to have broken loose in her life. She had been there during the situation with Anthony, comforted her when she spoke of Jack and reassured her when she ended up pregnant. Shannon was the best friend someone could ask for. She was supportive but she wasn't afraid of putting Kate in her place when she needed it either.

"Katie? Where the hell have you been?" Shannon said not happy. "You were supposed to call me when you got into Chicago. I've been worried sick about you." Her friend exclaimed. Kate winced she knew she should have called Shannon but these last couple days had gone by in a whirlwind and she knew she deserved whatever anger Shannon had for her.

"I'm sorry Shannie I know I should have called, things have been a little crazy and I promise you I'm perfectly fine, in fact I'm perfect." Kate said biting back a smile.

"Did you find him?" Shannon asked. Kate could hear the curiosity in her voice.

"Yes" Kate said trying to hold in her excitement.

"And?" Shannon asked exasperated.

"Oh my god Shannon he's incredible" Kate said her happiness bubbling over. "You should have seen it Shannon. I found him right after I got here and he was so sweet and Shannie he's excited about the baby."

"Really?" squealed Shannon. "Oh hunnie I'm so happy for you."

"I told him I wanted to do a paternity test and he said he believed me even without one. Then I told him about the test I had to do for the MS and they did a paternity test with it so Jack had it compared to his DNA and it proved he was the father. He never once made me feel like he didn't believe me and Shannie the minute I saw him it was like being back in Vegas. All I wanted to do was jump him; he is just as gorgeous as he was four months ago. He wants the baby and he wants me Shannie. He wants me to live with him in Chicago so we can raise the baby together. I told him everything about Anthony and he didn't care." Kate said.

"Move to Chicago?" Shannon asked. Her voice sounded sad.

"I know it seems sudden but Chicago isn't all that far and Jack offered to move to Vegas but he has a great career here and his friends are all so kind. I didn't want him to give all that up." Kate paused for a second and when she spoke again Shannon could hear the emotion in Kate's voice. "I love him Shannie. I've never felt this way before and its different he doesn't try to control me and he doesn't scare me" Kate whispered. "I want to be with him and he wants me too." A tear trickled down her cheek.

Shannon bit down her own tears as she heard the hopefulness in her best friend's voice. Kate deserved to find a prince charming and it sounded like she might have actually found him. She had held a sobbing Kate when she had told her about how she spent the weekend with the wonderful man and had been forced to leave because of fear of Anthony. Shannon had never heard Kate talk about a man the way she did Jack and Shannon knew that even in that short amount of time Kate had fallen head over heels for the doctor.

"Oh don't cry Katie, its going to be fine. I'm just happy that you're happy. And you know maybe in a little bit I can save some money and come out and see you so I can meet this Jack properly." Shannon said.

Kate sniffled. "Thanks Shannie, you know I love you right."

"I love you too Katie" Shannon replied. "Ok enough sad talk, you said you wanted to jump him so have you?"

Kate giggled and blushed. "We were going to take things slow but it didn't really work out all that well. I just can't seem to keep my hands off of him. So yes I have jumped him" she chuckled when she heard Shannon laugh out loud.

"That's my girl, go for what you want and don't let go."

"I'm not planning on letting him go anytime soon. Oh Shannie I would love if you could come visit. I want you to meet Jack so you can see how wonderful he is. He wants to turn his extra bedroom into a nursery so you have to help me plan the decorations and everything." Kate said excited over the prospect of Shannon visiting some day. "Plus there's this nasty woman named Ana who is trying to get with Jack." Kate said rolling her eyes.

"Ooh" Shannon said. "Sounds like I better start saving my tip money so I can get out there and help you put an end to that tramp." Shannon said protectively.

"I can't wait. I also have your jacket and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind packing the rest of my things and sending them to me. It isn't a lot." Kate asked.

"No problem" Shannon said. "I'll send you you're stuff and don't worry about the jacket, I'm sure you can use it more than me." Shannon said.

"Ugh don't remind me it's freezing here. The heat went out here last night but we were lucky." Kate said.

"Lucky huh?" Shannon asked suspiciously and Kate smirked.

"Jack has a fireplace in his bedroom and he's a doctor so he also knew the best way to keep warm is to snuggle naked with someone who is naked as well." Kate said saucily and Shannon chuckled.

"You're such a whore, no wonder you ended up knocked up." She teased.

"Yeah well I learned it all from you." Kate shot back and both girls laughed. "Look I should get going but I'll talk to you soon, I promise." Kate said.

"Ok babe I'll talk to you later." Shannon said.

Kate hung up the phone as Jack came out of the bathroom with a nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. He had actually been ready to come out of the bathroom but had heard Kate talking on the phone and didn't want to interrupt her. He had heard her talk to Shannon about visiting and Jack thought that could be really good for Kate. He stored the idea in his head to think about later. He glanced up and smirked to see Kate watching him hungrily. She sat up and walked on her knees to the end of the bed and smiled wickedly at him.

"I'm hungry again" she said licking her lips. Jack raised his eyebrows as she slipped her fingers into the waistband of his towel and yanked it off.

"Um hello" he said chuckling as he found himself naked. Kate ran her hands up his arms to his shoulders caressing his skin. She then dragged them down his chest dragging her nails lightly across his abdomen. She leaned over and gently licked at his nipple causing him to make a growling noise in the back of his throat. She let her tongue work it over and then moved to his other one. She slipped her hand down to caress his length which was steadily growing as she loved him. She took him in her fist and worked her hand up and down slowly and sensually. Jack went to slip his hands under her shirt when she pulled away.

"No" she said shaking her head and he looked at her confused. "I want to please you and that's all I want." She said, her face formed a smile. "On the bed on your back" she ordered huskily. Jack obeyed her order and settled on the bed comfortably. Kate crept up his body and stopped when she reached his hardened length. She grinned at him. "I love making you come" she said and within seconds had him in her mouth and was literally bathing her with his tongue. Jack moaned and went to move her back to him she pulled away with a sigh of discontent.

"I want to taste you Jack" she said softly.

Jack sighed and just enjoyed what she was doing to him. She sped up her ministrations and soon she was deep throating him with each thrust. She moaned and the sound vibrated through her and into his throbbing member. Jack let out a loud groan and Kate sucked on him harder laving him with her tongue.

"Gonna come baby" Jack said out of breath hoping to give her enough time to pull away before he erupted all over.

To his shock Kate pulled back slightly and smiled at him. "I want you to come, I want nothing more than for you to empty yourself within me. I love you Jack" she said and Jack felt his body tense. Kate sensed his upcoming release so she worked him with her hand and her mouth as she moaned and waited in anticipation for him to empty himself in her. She sucked on him harder and seconds later she heard him cry out and suddenly her mouth was filled with his release. She drank him down licking his member like a popsicle in order to not miss a drop. When he was done and his body relaxed he looked down to see Kate licking him all over as if she was afraid she missed some. When she was done she moved up to lie on his chest and nibble on his neck.

"Jesus Kate" Jack said stroking her hair.

"You liked it?" she asked knowing damn well he did. She leaned up and brushed her lips across his chin.

"That was incredible you are so amazing" he said stroking her cheek gently. He smiled at her. "You said you loved me, and I wanted to know I love you too" he cleared his throat which suddenly caught when he tried to speak.

Kate nodded and they kissed deeply.

"You have too many clothes on" Jack observed looking at her covered body.

"No no Jack I said I wanted to pleasure you not me. Making you come was just what I needed and you filled me up so well."

"Mmm" Jack moaned as they kissed deeply, when they pulled away Jack gave her a strange look. "I really don't think I like the idea of not giving you release."

Kate smiled at how wonderful he was. "I'm fine Jack, I promise. I'm a little tired from earlier anyway and making you happy makes me happy" she said nibbling on his lower lip. "Maybe when we get back from shopping I'll let you make it up to me" she said with a teasing smile and Jack grinned.

"You better" he said kissing her hungrily. After a few minutes they pulled away and finished getting ready to go out. Jack drove them downtown and made sure she was bundled up. He had insisted they could wait until the weather warmed a little but Kate had just said if she was going to live here than she needed to get used to the weather. He took her in and out of the shops and reminded her that anything she wanted was hers. She had made a face at that but didn't argue. They walked out onto the street and Kate immediately noticed the sky had turned grey and it didn't seem as cold as it was earlier.

Jack noticed her looking at the sky. "It's going to snow. What do you say we hit the next couple stores and then head to Marshall Fields and see the window display?" Kate nodded happily. It was when they were headed down the sidewalk when Kate suddenly tugged Jack into a building. He looked at her confused until he found himself in a maternity clothing store. He grinned at her and rubbed her belly gently through her jacket.

"I've noticed my clothes are all beginning to get tighter and tighter so I figure I better start looking now." Kate said.

"You're not going to wear a muumuu are you?" he asked with a chuckle and Kate smacked him on the arm.  
"No" she said rolling her eyes. "Maternity clothes have become quite fashionable and trendy." She took his hand and led him through the aisles grabbing

random items of clothing and holding them up for his opinion. Jack usually hated shopping with a passion and would practically scratch his own eyes out if some girlfriend dragged him along. It was different with Kate though he enjoyed spending this time with her.

"Are you finding everything ok today?" they turned to see a saleswoman.

"Yes, thank you. I'm just looking for right now." Kate said with a smile.

The woman smiled back. "If you don't mind my asking how far along are you?" the lady asked and Jack watched as Kate beamed.

"Four months" she said rubbing her stomach gently.

"Oh that's a wonderful time. Most of the clothes that would fit you will be located in the back of the store. Clothes that are of your normal size but with a little give." The saleslady said.

"Thanks so much" Kate said and she slipped her arm through Jack's and they turned to head that way when she felt the woman touch her arm and lean in close for only Kate to hear.

"There are a couple other items back there that you might be interested in such as lingerie." She said with a wink. Kate smiled and gave her thanks and eagerly pulled Jack towards the back of the store.

"What did she say?" Jack asked curious.

"Just a little girl talk" Kate said with a mysterious smile.

Kate managed to find a couple things she liked and even a nice outfit she could wear for any job interviews she might have. She didn't want to buy too much because she knew there were other maternity stores with the same selection and not nearly the same cost as this one. She wasn't going to tell Jack that because she knew he would just say by what you want and don't worry about money. Kate was a Wal-Mart, Target kind of girl so these fancy shops were nice to look around but not real plausible to do a lot of shopping in. She picked her few items of an outfit, a pair of slacks and a sweater when her eyes wandered to what the saleslady had told her about. Her face grew into a wicked smile and she pulled Jack over and watched as his eyes widened slightly and his grip on her hand tightened.

"What do you think?" she asked sexily rubbing her hand up his arm and Jack swallowed.

"That's a lot of lingerie." He made a face. "Is some of this even safe for pregnant women to be wearing?"

Kate giggled. "Yup they even have heels that have a different support in them so your back doesn't hurt."

"Really?" Jack asked his eyes wandering over the lace, silk and leather before him.

"Ooh I like that one" Kate said and Jack watched as Kate pulled a teddy off the rack with the buckles and guarders. "Just think of this with thigh high stockings that buckle and a pair of heels." Kate said knowing she was driving Jack insane. "It comes in a bunch of colors" she said as if she was looking at candlesticks.

"Why don't you try it on?" Jack said breathlessly.

"I don't think they allow that." Kate said looking around. She suddenly felt Jack at her side.

"We're buying it anyway" he said huskily and Kate felt a shiver run down her spine. "Maybe we should just buy it and go home" he said.

Kate shook her head her body engulfed in flames. "I won't make it that long" she said with a hitch in her voice. Kate looked around and saw the saleslady form earlier. The lady came over and gave them a small smile. "We have some private dressing rooms in the back I can let you in" and Kate nodded trying to control her racing blood. Jack looked around, private dressing rooms? This was the greatest store ever. The lady led Kate back into a secluded area and opened the dressing room for her. It was like a tiny room completely closed off from any of the other rooms in the area. Kate quickly changed and smirked. She had grabbed a pair of heels when Jack wasn't looking. The salesperson discretely told Jack which room Kate was in so he made his way into the back room and knocked on the door of her dressing room.

"Kate" he called out.

"It's open" he heard Kate call out.

He opened the door and found Kate standing there in the black teddy, her thigh high stockings were clipped to the buckles that came off of the teddy and she was wearing a pair of black stiletto heels. Jack stopped breathing for a second and then quickly moved into the room closing and locking the door behind him. She licked her lips as he looked at her hungrily.

"Holy shit" he muttered under his breath and Kate giggled and opened her arms to him.

"Come here" she said and Jack moved across the room and took her into his arms kissing her hungrily as his fingers traced over the silk and lace. She pulled him tight and he moved her against the wall as he hungrily ate at her mouth. Kate lifted her leg and wrapped it around his hip pulling him tighter. Jack pulled away and caught his breath.

"I have to take all this off?" he asked looking at all the buckles.

"Nope" Kate said stroking his hair. "Crotch-less panties" she said nuzzling him with her nose. Jack sucked in a deep breath and Kate giggled as she felt his body stiffen against her. "I don't want to wait too much we are in a store" she said unbuckling his pants and undoing the button and pulling the zipper down. She pushed his pants and boxers down. She took his throbbing member in her hand and stroked him gently. Jack cursed and let his fingers graze her crotch and sure enough the fabric was gone and he let his fingers sink into her depth testing her readiness for him. Sensing she was more than ready he gripped her thighs and lifted her up so her legs wrapped around his waist and he lowered her and sank deep within her. They both let out moans of pleasure as Jack pushed into her. Kate pressed her mouth against him and moved up and down on him. She unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it from his shoulders and he moved carefully kicking his pants and boxers away that were gathered around his ankles. He drove into her smoothly and deeply and Kate held on to him tight gasping his name. He pressed her harder against the wall and Kate whimpered at the sensation of him driving into her. She opened her eyes and let out a little gasp. To her side was a full length mirror and she could see Jack loving her fully. She watched as he thrust into her and she saw her own reaction to him as she unconsciously bit her lip.

"Jack" she whispered. "Look" she gestured and Jack saw the mirror and how it looked for the two of them to be connected.

"You like how that looks" he asked breathlessly. "How our bodies fit together perfectly?"

Kate nodded she couldn't take her eyes off of the sight of Jack's hardened length move in and out of her. She whimpered and felt her release building.

"When we get home I'm going to take you from behind in front of the mirror so you can watch your self come" Jack said his voice dark with passion and Kate let out another moan. He thrust into her harder and Kate knew both of them were seconds from release. Their orgasms hit and both cried out in pleasure as Kate's body clenched around his as he released into her. Kate managed to open her eyes and watch in the mirror as Jack's body jerked within her and his muscles tensed in ecstasy. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. She buried her face in his neck as the rest of her orgasm wracked through her body. When they both had come down they Jack stroked her hair lovingly and kissed the side of her head. He eased her onto her feet and both dressed while exchanging deep kisses. They left the dressing room and Kate blushed knowing the saleslady had to know what she and Jack were doing. Surprisingly the woman said nothing and Jack purchased the clothing and lingerie as well as a couple items Kate snuck in from the lingerie section she didn't want him to see, luckily he was talking to the cashier and didn't see her secret purchases. She had to have some surprises for him. They finished their transaction and they walked out into the cold though both were feeling rather warm and sated. Kate rested her head on his shoulder as they walked and Jack kissed the top of her head.

"You want to go home?" he asked.

"No I want to go see the window displays at Marshall Fields" she said smiling up at him. He leaned in and they kissed lovingly.

"Ok but if you get too tired let me know" he said gently.

Kate smiled, "I'm not tired just pleasantly content" she said with a giggle and he gave her a wink. They made their way to Fields and looked at the windows. Each window was decorated as a scene from the nutcracker and Kate's eyes danced with excitement at all the detail and hard work that went into the displays. She suddenly felt something land on her face and saw that it was snowing. Kate had never seen snow before besides in movies and television and squealed in excitement as the light powder rained down upon them. It was so beautiful and with State Street decorated for the upcoming holidays Kate felt like she was in a Charles Dickens's story. She looked at Jack who was looking at her his eyes full of love. She leaned up and kissed him excitedly and when they pulled apart she whispered.

"I love you so much Jack Shephard" she caressed his cheek.

"I love you too Kate, you and our baby." He pulled her into a tight embrace and hugged her.

"Jack?" Kate pulled away when she heard the unfamiliar female voice. She felt Jack completely stiffen within her arms and watched as his eyes lost some of their joy.

"Hello Sarah"

Ok there it is sorry for the long wait. For those of you in the Chicago area you know Fields has become Macys but in my story it will always be Marshall Fields because that is the way it's supposed to be. So please review and let me know what you thought of the chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

Ok gang I know its been forever so I apologize. I seriously hit major writers block with this story and had no clue where I was going with it so now that I have a somewhat good idea of where its going I can only hope that its worthy of reading. I know some of you have been hinting that you have been missing the smut so here's a little for you. Also I like the actress who played Sarah on the show Julie Bowen, so the Sarah in my mind is played by someone else. Ok so anyways on with the story.

**CHAPTER 15**

Jack looked at the blonde woman slightly stunned not sure he was seeing his ex in front of him. She looked cold and frigid. Her blonde hair was dyed platinum making her face look harsher. Jack could also see she had some cosmetic work done on her face. Last he had heard she had hooked up with some plastic surgeon and was using it to her advantage. He was slightly surprised though that he didn't feel any pain or bitterness when looking at her. Not like he used to. He shook himself from his thoughts and came back to reality.

"It's good to see you Jack, you look wonderful" Sarah practically purred and Kate couldn't help but notice the way Sarah's eyes traveled down Jack's body like a lion looking at fresh meat. Kate was about to say something when Jack spoke first.

"Thanks Sarah, you look…nice too." He said politely though he couldn't help notice her face wasn't moving much due to her Botox injections and it was starting to make him want to laugh. "So what are you doing in Chicago Sarah, I heard you were living out in LA?" Jack asked making polite conversation. Kate kept quiet because she knew it wasn't her business but she wasn't going to be completely ignored by this woman. She subtly slipped her around Jack's waist and snuggled close while waiting for Sarah's reply to Jack's question.

"Oh I'm home visiting my parents for the holidays." She noticed Kate's action and looked at the brunette with a slight scowl but then quickly went on speaking. "Richard and I broke up" she said as if expecting sympathy from Jack.

"Uh that's too bad" Jack said not sure what she wanted him to say exactly.

"Yeah so here I am at the holidays single and free as a bird" she said huskily and to Kate's amazement reached out and ran her hand down Jack's chest. Even though he had his winter jacket on and couldn't really feel her touch, Jack still felt slightly disgusted and took a step slightly back. Sarah continued on as if not noticing anything. "I was hoping to run into you, how much fun would it be for you and me and both sets of our parents to get together sometime for dinner?" She asked which Kate assumed was supposed to be a grin though the Botox made it look like a slight grimace.

Jack just looked slightly stunned by Sarah's behavior and then shook his head ever so slightly as if clearing the cobwebs.

"Uh Sarah let me introduce you to Kate, Kate this is Sarah. Kate and I are having a baby" Jack said hoping Sarah would catch on to his disinterest in her.

Sarah looked at Kate like someone would a cockroach. "Oh how quaint" she said with another smile/grimace though Kate figured this time the grimace was planned. "I hadn't heard you got married Jack" Sarah asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh well were not" Jack said and he was going to say yet but Sarah interrupted him but Kate held her breath in, was he about to say yet?

"Well then there's no problem" Sarah said as if all things had fallen in place. "You're not married so there isn't anything keeping you from dinner with me." She said with a gleam in her eye.

"Actually there is" Jack said his voice lowered slightly colder. "Kate and I are together and we're in love." Kate couldn't help but smile adoringly at him at his words. She also couldn't understand how Jack ever ended up with a woman like this to begin with.

Sarah made a clicking noise and shook her head ruefully. She then leaned in towards Jack completely disregarding Kate. "Jack its ok so you got some girl pregnant. You write her a check she takes care of the problem down at the clinic and that's the end of that. You don't have to be with her just because of some baby." She rubbed his arm seductively but the fire in Jack's eyes was not because of lust but because of pure fury.

He jerked his arm back. "I'm with Kate because I love her; the baby is an added bonus. I'm sorry things haven't worked out for you but that's not my problem. I have every intention of marrying Kate and possibly even having more children. She is the most intelligent, gentle caring and beautiful woman I have ever met and I have no intention of letting her go or leaving her for the likes of you Sarah." Jack spat out angrily. To his amazement Sarah just gave a small nod.

"Whatever you say darling" Sarah said with a sugary sweet smile and walked off sauntering mostly in hopes Jack was still watching. He wasn't he was staring ahead trying to wrap his mind around the conversation he had just had.

He looked at Kate who was looking at him her mouth slightly agape and stunned; he went to ask her if she was ok when she spoke.

"Did you just propose to me?" she asked her voice cracking slightly. Jack looked at her for a second and then remembered what he said about his intentions to marry her.

"Shit" he muttered and before he could say anything else Kate backed away wrapping her arms around her stomach defensively.

"Well you don't have to get upset about it; I was just asking a question I didn't expect anything." She said offended that is only comment to her question was an expletive.

"No, wait" Jack stammered, he was making a real mess of things. "I mean yes I want to propose but that wasn't it, dammit I suck at this. Look I want to propose and planned on doing it but I didn't want it to be like this, that's why I swore. I want to do it right with a ring and on one knee. Not having it come out while I'm snapping at my ex-wife" he said pleading slightly hoping she understood what he was saying. He watched as Kate's face softened and she quickly moved into his embrace and he held her tight releasing a relieved sigh.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to act all crazy on you" Kate said her voice muffled by his jacket. "I just, I swear these hormones are driving me insane. I get sad angry, happy and h…well I just feel a lot at a drop of a hat with no warning."

Jack looked at her curiously and smiled wickedly. "What were you going to say after happy." He grinned even wider as she blushed even harder.

"Nothing I don't remember" she said quickly but she saw Jack wasn't buying it. "Ok fine I was going to say horny" her voice dropped slightly so people on the sidewalk couldn't hear her. Jack's grin grew even wider and Kate rolled her eyes even though he looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Really" Jack said moving her against the building and out of everyone's view so they could talk privately. "How horny?"

"Jack!" Kate exclaimed growing even redder. "This isn't funny" she said smacking his arm.

"Of course it's not Kate, I'm a doctor and I'm trained to follow your moods to monitor your pregnancy. This is completely scientific." He said with a straight face but Kate wasn't buying it.

"You're full of it" she said though a small smile graced her lips.

"So come on tell me" Jack said and Kate sighed. "Don't be embarrassed Kate."

"I'm not embarrassed because of it I'm embarrassed by my thoughts because of it." Kate said looking down but Jack tilted her face up questioningly. "It's like the changing room Jack, we were in public and I didn't care in fact the thought of possibly being caught was a turn on." she said.

"Ok" Jack said with a nod. He was listening to her carefully and seriously because he wanted to please her and listen to her needs. "So you enjoy public sex, that's ok Kate and not weird and if it's something you want to try more often we'll figure something out." Jack said kissing her forehead.

"It's not just that Jack, I mean sometime thoughts come to me out of nowhere and hit me at random times. Things I had never once considered before." Kate said.

"That's the hormones Kate they wreak all kinds of havoc on your body and your mind, but if something comes up that you want I don't want you to be afraid to tell me about it." Jack said.

"Even if it's really weird" Kate said and Jack gave her a nod.

"Yes, even if it's really weird." Jack said. "Was there something in particular?"

"Well um yeah there was one thing and it was gone just as quick as it came to me. I don't even want to do it but at the time I did. Is that normal?" she asked.

"Yes" Jack said. "So tell me"

"It was the night before I got here and I was scared of your reaction I mean I just wanted to make you happy. So I was nervous and couldn't sleep and I was switching through the channels. I was flipping and this porn movie was on and I don't know why I stopped to watch but I did and they did something that at the time I thought I would really want to do with you because I thought it would make you happy. That's how screwed up my hormones are Jack I have irrational thoughts are you sure I'm not just crazy?" Kate asked.

Jack shook his head and pressed her up against the wall and Kate let out a slight moan. They were in the shadows and no one could see them and the conversation was heating them both up and making them forget the cold. "Tell me about it" he whispered huskily into her ear. He kept his mouth there and nuzzled her gently. Kate leaned up and whispered back in is.

"I thought about being with another woman and you at the same time to make you happy." She said and Jack groaned and his entire body went tense. "I knew it" she panicked. "I grossed you out, and now you think I'm a freak" she said panicking, but Jack held her tight.

"No baby, no you didn't freak me out" he chuckled slightly. "You just have to give a guy a little bit of a warning before you put an image like that in his head." Jack said holding her close.

"I mean I seriously don't want that now, I don't but at the time it made perfect sense" Kate said relieved he hadn't pushed her away.

"Well sweetheart don't panic because you just describe many a man's fantasy" Jack said with a smile as he kissed her gently.

"Really?" Kate asked curious. "I mean its true guys really like watching woman together? That's normal?" she asked.

Jack chuckled, "Well I don't know about normal but it's definitely there for many men. Now I'm not going to say it's not a turn on but I want you to know you are the only woman I have any interest in taking to my bed. I don't need a third party to help me out." He said with a wicked grin and Kate sighed in pleasure feeling him press against her.

Kate smiled saucily, "No you don't, in fact you do just fine on your own" she pressed her mouth against his. They kissed slowly and passionately taking their time exploring one another's mouth.

"Mmm" Jack moaned breaking contact. "I think we're going to hit on that public sex thing if we don't take this home." He said nuzzling her neck and Kate blushed.

"Yeah that's a fantasy that doesn't seem to want to leave." She said shyly and then giggled as Jack nipped at her lips.

"Well then I guess it's my job to make sure all your fantasies come true. However its winter in Chicago and awfully cold so maybe we should head home for now and come up with plans for your little fantasies later." Jack said and Kate nodded. Her body was humming and she couldn't wait to get home.

When they arrived in the apartment Jack had barely gotten the door locked before Kate attacked him with fervor. She was pulling at his clothes with abandon and Jack was not putting up any kind of fight. She slid his jacket and shirt off onto the floor and Jack quickly stripped hers off as well. They each went for the other's pants and with some minor difficulty managed to strip each other naked.

"I believe you said something about a mirror earlier" Kate purred and Jack scooped her up in his arms and brought her into the bed room. He set her down and then moved away to roll his full length mirror in front of them. Kate was practically dying of anticipation for him to be in her after all their sensual talking and then groping on the sidewalk. He came back on the bed and pulled her against him kissing her deeply and passionately.

He pulled away and they caught their breath.

"Are you ready for me baby, or do you need more time?" Jack asked moving his hand down to her center to feel her excitement.

"Now Jack I need you now, mmm that whole time on the sidewalk and ride back here was enough foreplay to get me ready for you," she said with a smile and Jack kissed her again nibbling on her lips.

"Ok Kate here we go, I need you on your hands and knees he said and his tone sent chills of absolute delight down her spine. He positioned her so she was on all fours facing the mirror. He moved behind her running his hand along her back stroking the smooth skin gently.

"Watch the mirror Kate, see how you look when I take you." He said and Kate's eyes moved to the mirror where their gazes met through the reflection and he smiled lovingly at her. "Watch yourself Kate" he urged her and with that he pushed slowly into her from behind and Kate watched as she bit her lip and her eyes glazed slightly with pleasure. When he was fully embedded in her Kate took a second to catch her breath. She looked at her reflection and could see her skin was growing flushed. She felt so full as if he filled every inch of her. Sensing she was ready he began to thrust in and out of her at a slow pace but as time went on he moved the pace up slightly. Kate couldn't look away from the mirror her eyes moving from his reflection to her own. She almost didn't recognize herself bent over being made love to like this. She looked like some wanton stranger.

Jack picked up his pace and Kate let out a lustful moan. She gripped the sheets tightly as he began to thrust harder into her. She watched herself bend down slightly and bite her lip and open her mouth to let sounds of pleasure escape.

"Do you see how sexy you are Kate?" Jack asked his breath growing slightly ragged. "Do you see what I see every time I'm in you?" he moved her hair aside and bent over her to whisper in her ear. "Do you see how sensual and sexy you are and why you make me so hard and hot?" he asked nibbling on her ear. Kate's reply was to let out a moan and pushed back against him hard causing him to slide a little bit farther into her. She was losing her breath and at this point Jack began to pound into her and all Kate could do was watch her own reflection as her body began to tighten. Jack leaned forward and pulled her up by the waist so they were now both settled on their knees. Jack used one hand to stroke and massage her breasts while the other slipped down between her thighs and began to finger her clit. Kate bucked in his arms and watched herself do it.  
Jack grinned knowing Kate was entranced by seeing her own body's reaction to his loving.

"You are so beautiful" he whispered into her ear thrusting up deep inside her causing her to whimper in pleasure with each deep push. "Are you close?" he asked pulling her tight and loving her harder.

"God yes" Kate said laying her head back to rest on his shoulder, she could feel her body coiling like a rubber band and she knew he was going to take her over the edge soon.

"Ok Kate keep watching yourself" he said fingering her a little more sensually while thrusting harder and harder. Suddenly Kate felt it hit and her body locked with anticipation. She managed to keep her eyes open and she watched as she literally froze for those few seconds and then suddenly burst into flames. She watched as her body shook and she fought with everything she had to not close her eyes with pleasure. Her skin was damp with sweat her hair was pushed to one side so Jack could have access to her ear and neck. She cried out and screamed with her release and Kate could swear it was as if her eyes almost turned black with pleasure.

When she came down she slumped forward slightly trying to catch her breath. Jack was whispering encouraging and loving words into her ear. She looked back at the mirror and watched to see him release. Sensing what she wanted Jack picke dup his pace and moments later she watched thrilled as he he bit his lip and let out an almost howl as he emptied himself inside her. She also saw how when he was coming her body unconsciously moved back slightly to accommodate him. When he was done he pulled out of her causing her to whimper with the loss of him deep inside. She laid down burying her face in the sheets attempting to come down from her high.

"Oh my god, oh my god" was all she could say. Jack lay down next to her on his back watching her. She looked up at him and they both chuckled slightly.

"Hi" she said softly.

"Hi yourself" he said gently pulling her into his arms. Kate snuggled warmly into his embrace. Her body was readjusting to not having him in her and she missed the thickness of him filling her up.

"Mmmm" she moaned happily stretching her legs out and then entangling them with his. "I love you so much" she said and she placed a soft kiss on his chin.

"I love you too" Jack said tilting his head this time catching her lips. The two lay their relaxing and snagging each other's mouths with sensual kisses. "How did you like the mirror?" he asked curiously.

Kate let out a pleasured sigh. "It was amazing I didn't even recognize myself at times."

"I just wanted you to see what I get to see every time I love you." Jack said kissing her neck gently.

"I'm so glad I found you" Kate said after a few minutes of kisses.

"Me too" Jack said with a small grin and Kate gave him a wicked smile.

"I mean it Jack, look at the woman in your life, Sarah and Ana, thank god I'm here to make sure you don't screw up and hook up with one of them." she said with a giggle and Jack rolled his eyes and pulled her tight.

"Oh you think you're funny" he said teasing her and when she nodded smugly he repaid her by tickling her relentlessly until the teasing turned pleasurable and Jack found himself on top of her making love to her once again.

Ok guys hope you liked it and nobody panic at the girl on girl reference this story isn't going slash or anything like that. That scene was more in honor of my best friend who when pregnant had the most insane hormones I'd ever seen a person have. One day she looked up from her menu at lunch and announced that if her husband wanted a threesome with another woman she'd totally do it. Two minutes later the idea freaked her out and she almost got sick from actually thinking it. After that the urge was gone though it left us with great ammunition to tease her with, though she warns us when we all decide to have kids she is so going to watch us deal with crazy hormones. So anyway hit the button and please review.


	16. Chapter 16

Ok so still kinda bummed over the finale and my Jacket friend totally burned me when she said Juliet won that round, she kissed Jack and didn't run away like a total spaz. Dammit she's right too, this is why I need to stop hanging out with people who hate Kate's guts and wait every week in anticipation that she's going to be eaten by the polar bear, the security system or perhaps even Hurley. It's a good thing Jack is the other half of this ship cause if he wasn't I'd probably want Kate dead as well. Hehe It's sad I only find her useful because of Jack. Oh well on to better things, Jack and AU Kate, the kind of Kate that doesn't make you want to poke your own eyes out. Speaking of people who make you want to poke your own eyes out, Paris Hilton will be off to prison soon. Seriously if you or I pulled the crap that Paris, Lindsey Lohan or Brittney Spears did we would have been thrown in jail a long time ago. I mean has Lindsey ever been in a car that she hasn't crashed? It must be nice to be completely rich and completely moronic at the same time. Ok sorry this is way off track I've had a really bad day and I'm just waiting for the alcohol to kick in. Me and Jack we can be addict buddies except I don't have the money it takes to not only support but start a habit such as alcoholism or drugs. So Jack is gonna have to pay for everything.

**CHAPTER 16**

The phone rang loudly startling Kate from her sleep. The room was pitch black so Kate knew it was still early. She rubbed her eyes and squinted at the alarm clock, it read 3:13am. As she was trying to compute what was happening she became aware that Jack had answered the phone.

"Yeah…ok…no problem, I'll be there as soon as I can…ok bye" Jack said hanging up the phone. He had been speaking quietly to whomever was on the other end as to not wake Kate. He sighed and rubbed his eyes trying to wake himself up. He startled slightly when he felt a hand rub his back gently.

"What's going on?" came Kate's sleepy voice.

Jack turned over to look at her. "I'm sorry that was the hospital there was some kind of traffic accident on the freeway and a lot of people are hurt. I have to go in and help out. I'm sorry I woke you up." He said with a yawn of his own.

Kate leaned over and kissed his forehead and then got out of bed.

"Kate what are you doing?" Jack asked watching her confused.

"Jack you're exhausted the least I can do is make you some coffee to take with so you can get some caffeine in you so you wake up." Kate said. She stopped when Jack reached out and grasped her hand gently.

"Kate you don't have to do that, you and the baby need rest. Just crawl back into bed, I'll be fine." Jack said gently.

"Jack the baby and I need you safe and sound not falling asleep at the wheel. Get dressed I'll go make the coffee, no arguing" she said as she gave him a firm kiss signaling the end of their conversation. She walked out of the room leaving Jack behind with a surprised look on his face. He was definitely not used to this kind of treatment before. Even when he and Sarah had been happy in the beginning she never would have gotten up with him during a late night emergency call. He quickly readied himself for what he knew would be a stressful day at work.

When he came down he found Kate pouring coffee into his travel mug.

"Here" she said handing it to him along with a brown bag. "I made you a sandwich and there are snacks in there." she said sweetly. Jack set the food and mug down and yanked Kate tight against him as she let out a surprised gasp. He leaned in and took her mouth hard kissing her senseless. All she could do was wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him back hungrily as he plundered her mouth with his tongue. Jack had always been a gentleman with her even as what started as a one night stand he was always polite, caring and stocked full of manners. Every once in awhile though he would let out this dark, wild side. Like the one now that he unleashed while practically pillaging her mouth with his own. It sent shivers and sparks down Kate's spine. She had only seen him this aggressive once before.

_Kate was trying to catch her breath while Jack lay on top of her gathering his strength. She was rubbing her hands up and down his back in lazy circles. She had never had sex this good before it was so amazing. He had awoken her from a sound sleep and she didn't mind one bit. They were startled from their post-coital recovery by Jack's cell phone ringing. _

_ "Hello" he muttered into the phone while finally moving from atop her and rolling onto his back. _

_ "Hey man" came Mark's voice. "I just wanted to let you know the first conference in the morning has been cancelled." _

_ Jack noticed that though a boring conference being cancelled was a good thing, Mark sounded slightly off. "What's going on?" he asked and Kate looked up at him noticing his voice sounded concerned._

_ "Uh so Robbie was supposed to speak tomorrow but he won't be doing that. Man he got arrested," Mark said,_

_ "What for?" Jack asked confused. He and Mark neither cared much for Robbie so he couldn't figure out why Mark sounded so despondent._

_ "It seems he got a hold of a waitress at the bar we were in. Um I guess things got out of hand and he messed her up real bad. Jack the reason I'm worried was all I heard was she was a pretty, young brunette waitress at Kolision. You and Kate left tonight together, I mean was everything ok, she didn't go back to Kolision for anything did she?" Mark asked. _

_ Jack froze and thought about what Mark said. Robbie had hurt a woman pretty bad and she matched Kate's description. He looked down at the beautiful woman lying on his chest looking at him confused and concerned. He brushed the hair out of her eyes tenderly. _

_ "No man it wasn't Kate" Jack said his voice feeling dry. "She's been with me the whole night" he said._

_ "Oh" Mark said and Jack heard him try to stifle a reaction, any other time Mark would have snickered or teased Jack good naturedly but now he was just relieved the nice woman from tonight wasn't the one hurt by Robbie. "Ok man well that's good to know" Jack could hear the relief in his friends voice and Jack smiled softly. It seems Kate had an affect on everyone. "Goodnight man"_

_ "Night" Jack said hanging up the phone. He felt like he had an anvil in his stomach. _

_ "What's wrong Jack" Kate asked concerned. _

_ He sat up straight and pulled her up with him. With a little maneuvering she was in his lap facing him her legs around his waist._

_ "That was my friend Mark from tonight, he just heard that the guy, Robbie, at the bar who groped you was arrested?" Jack said._

_ Kate gave a nod, "OK" she was a little confused she didn't think Jack and Robbie were friends or anything._

_ "He attacked a woman, I didn't get the details but it sounds like it was pretty bad. The thing is Kate she worked at Kolision." Jack said quietly._

_ Kate froze for a second and then suddenly the image of her best friend Shannon popped into her head. _

_ "__Shannon__!" she cried out. "I need to call Shannie!" she reached for the phone and to her dismay Jack stopped her holding her back._

_ "Let me go!" she cried trying to break free form his grip._

_ "Kate stop listen to me, what does __Shannon__ look like?" Jack asked. _

_ Kate looked at him confused. "What?" she asked. She just wanted to get to the phone and call her friend._

_ "Your friend Shannon? What does she look like?" He said gently, he wanted to calm her down in case the news was bad._

_ "She's uh she's tall with blonde hair and blue eyes, please Jack let me call her" she begged tears slipping down her face._

_ Jack pulled her close. "It wasn't her baby, it wasn't her" he said stroking her back._

_ "Are you sure?" Kate asked looking at him her lower lip trembling and he gently wiped the tears from her cheeks._

_ He leaned over and grabbed his phone. "Here give her a call" he said and Kate smiled gratefully and quickly punched in the number. _

_ He stroked her cheek while she waited and she leaned her head into his hand affectionately._

_ "Hello" came __Shannon__'s voice._

_ "Shannie!" Kate exclaimed "Are you ok?"_

_ "Katie?! Where the fuck have you been I have left over twelve messages on your phone! Where are you? Oh my god Katie do you have any idea how scared I've been?" __Shannon__ scolded her. _

_ "I'm ok I'm ok I promise. I'm so sorry my phone is off. I just heard someone got attacked at Kolision who was it?" Kate asked._

_ "Oh honey I'm sorry I yelled but I've been so scared up until about ten minutes ago I thought it was you, no one would tell me anything. Oh Kate it's awful its Angela the new girl." __Shannon__ said sadly._

_ Kate pondered for a second and then remembered the young waitress who had just started. Kate also remembered that she resembled Kate quite a bit. She looked up at Jack sharply. Before she could say anything __Shannon__ went on._

_ "You left with that guy and then someone found Angela in the stairwell and that man was there from earlier, the one who grabbed you. Except all we heard was someone who they thought was you was found with a man. I thought the doctor you left with had hurt you. Oh Katie it was awful he beat her up so bad that they couldn't recognize her." __Shannon__ said._

_ "Did he rape her?" Kate asked her voice hoarse, she felt so cold inside. As if sensing her emotions Jack pulled her close and she laid her head on his shoulder still holding the phone to her ear. _

_ "They didn't say but yeah I think he did" __Shannon__ said sadly. "Oh Katie I was so scared, seriously where are you?" _

_ "I'm with Jack still" she said softly. "I'm ok I promise I'm perfectly ok. I've been with Jack the whole night, I'm perfectly safe." Kate said as she felt Jack's arms tighten around her. _

_ "You're still with him?" __Shannon__ said somewhat shocked, Kate wasn't the kind of girl to just go home with some guy. She was still surprised that she had gone for coffee with him. "Katie why don't you come over to my place ok?" she said._

_ "I" Kate stuttered. Jack had asked her to spend the night and she didn't want to leave. She leaned forward and kissed him gently and then slipped out of his embrace taking the phone with her into the bathroom. Jack understood her need for privacy. He rubbed his hands over his eyes wearily. He didn't think Robbie attacking a woman who looked just liked Kate was a coincidence. He felt his blood boil in a rage he wasn't accustomed to. He felt horrible for the woman who was hurt but Jack couldn't help but feel relief that Kate was with him. She had been in his arms and he was grateful. _

_ Kate closed the door behind her and saw her image in the mirror. She was wearing Jack's shirt and her hair was tousled and she looked perfectly loved up. She couldn't help but smile at the glow she had. _

_ "Shannie, Jack asked me to spend the night and I'm planning on doing just that." Kate said softly. _

_ "Kate you can't honestly expect me to believe you and him have been having sex this whole time?" __Shannon__ sounded incredulous._

_ Kate blushed. "No of course not, we had a lot of sex he asked me to stay we slept, we woke up had sex again and then his friend called telling him about Angela." _

_ "Kate you don't even know him are you sure about this, I could come get you if you want." __Shannon__ said. _

_ Kate shook her head, "No I want to stay; I'll see you tomorrow night at work." _

_ "Ok just please be careful" __Shannon__ said still not sure._

_ "I will" Kate said. "I love you Shannie" _

_ "I love you too Katie" and they hung up._

_ Kate walked out and saw Jack sitting up he looked deep in thought. _

_ "Hey" she said crawling onto the bed and onto his lap. He looked up and Kate was shocked by the anger in his eyes._

_ "It's my fault" he said his voice quiet._

_ Kate looked at him shocked. "What?" she asked stroking his cheek but he moved away and eased her off of him he got out of the bed threw on his boxers and began to pace. "Jack?" she asked._

_ "I pissed him off I mean I saw him when we were leaving, sitting at the bar and like a proud idiot I pulled you closer as if to show him you were with me." Jack said and Kate's face softened she couldn't believe he was taking this on. _

_ "Hey Hey" she said making him stop pacing. "Look at me, this isn't your fault. He is a monster and that isn't your fault." She said stroking his cheek. "Jack I know she looked like me and I know that's not a coincidence. I feel guilty enough about that Jack" she said softly. "If you hadn't asked me out it could have been me" she said. She never expected his reaction. He turned to her sharply and pulled her tight against him. His eyes flashed with fire and Kate felt herself melt in his embrace._

_ "Don't say that, don't' even think that" he ground out and then he pressed his mouth against hers. Kate moaned and kissed him back hungrily. She liked the wild side of him. Jack was almost possessed though he ate her mouth hungrily. He couldn't get the thought of her being hurt out of his head. He reached down and released himself from his boxers. He gripped her thighs and hoisted her up her legs wrapping around his waist._

_ "Right here?" Kate asked breathlessly and she was answered by feeling Jack thrust deep inside of her and she let out a moan of pleasure. _

_ He pushed up inside of her over and over just holding her in his arms. He couldn't help it he needed to claim her to mark her to protect her. Kate was moaning and whimpering and she felt him suck on her neck marking her. She shook with pleasure at his animalistic behavior. She wanted him more so she moved to ride him and soon they both came with strangled gasps. Kate rested on him as he carried her to the bed and then laid them down keeping them connected. _

_ "Was I too rough?" he asked softly and she looked up and saw the wild gleam in his eye was gone and she knew she had just gotten a glimpse of what he was capable of. She wanted to unleash his wild side so badly at that point but she was exhausted._

_ "No baby that was perfect" she purred into his neck._

Jack moved her against the fridge still kissing her hungrily. "No one has ever loved me the way you do" he said and Kate saw that spark in his eye but it was gone as he realized he had to be at work. Kate was enthralled though, the hunger to release his wild side was with her again and she promised herself to find ways to do it. They kissed a little bit more and then he finally pulled away.

"I have to go" he groaned. "I left a key for you on the table for the apartment. I don't know what time I'll be home so help yourself to any of the food. It's just a suggestion but if you get stir-crazy and want to go out maybe see if Claire wants to go with you. She knows the area and I know she gets tired of being cooped up with the baby. I'm sure she'd be happy to show you all the great places to shop. Also I left my credit card on the table, don't argue but right now you don't have your own money so you'll just have to use mine. I love you and take care of yourself." He finished by kissing her hard and then scooting out the door before she could argue with him.

Kate shook her head slightly amused as she found herself alone. She stroked her stomach lovingly and spoke to her baby,

"I don't know kiddo your Daddy almost seems too good to be true at times." She sighed and went back upstairs and crawled into bed, this time she laid on Jack's side so she could snuggle into his pillow and breathe his scent. She felt a wicked smile appear on her face. Jack was a good and kind man but he had a wild side and she had just scratched the surface. She couldn't wait to find ways to unleash it.

Ok there it is next chapter will be Claire and Kate bonding and Kate learning a little bit more about Jack from another perspective.


	17. Chapter 17

Hi guys here's the next update and can I just say Foxy is in the new Speed Racer movie…Foxy in a racing uniform…Take a moment to enjoy…and resume the story.

**CHAPTER 17**

Kate awoke for the second time this time feeling a little more rested. She sighed knowing Jack was gone and she missed him. She rolled her eyes, god she was becoming one of those women. Women who can't be away from their significant others for even small periods of time. She giggled at least she had an excuse to be clingy, she had his baby safely nestled in her womb at the moment. She rubbed her stomach affectionately.

"Well little one part of me loves being pregnant with you and keeping you safe inside me, but the other part of me can't wait until you're born. Your daddy and I love you so much and we are going to give you the best life possible." She sighed happily. She got out of bed and took a shower and readied herself for the day. There wasn't too much to do so she straightened up the apartment, which there wasn't much to straighten while listening to some talk show. When she was done she sighed. Maybe she would take Jack's advice and see if Claire was up for anything. Remembering that Claire lived to the right of Jack, she grabbed her door key and went over. She knocked and waited and a minute later the door opened and Claire was standing there.

"Hi, I'm Kate from next door?" Kate began suddenly feeling a little awkward, like a kid on the playground.

Claire was having none of it though. "Of course! I remember you, you're having Jack's baby." She said with a wink and Kate blushed. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh well Jack got called into the hospital and I've cleaned the apartment and I can only watch so many talk show about dysfunctional annoying teens." Kate said with a shrug. "So I thought I would just stop by and say Hi and see if you were up for any shopping today?" Kate asked.

"Oh this is perfect, I needed to go shopping and Rose volunteered to watch Aaron so we definitely need to go. Let me just finish getting him ready and we can head out."

"Ok great" Kate said with a grin. "Let me just grab my jacket and leave a note for Jack in case he gets home while we're gone."

Kate went back to the apartment and grabbed a pen and paper she giggled making the note out to Papa Bear and told him where she was going. She then signed it Mama and Baby Bear. She knew it was corny but she figured he'd need a smile when he got home from such an early morning.

She met up with Claire who was holding Aaron, a diaper bag and some toys all while trying to lock her door.

"Oh here let me" Kate said taking the baby from her. Kate's heart melted as she looked down at the sleeping child. She seriously couldn't wait until it was time to hold her own.

"You're a natural" Claire said smiling as she watched the woman cradle her son.

"You think?" Kate said hopefully. "I've been worried I'll be awful at this."

"Nope you will be perfect." Claire said with confidence and Kate felt great.

They made their way down to Rose's apartment and got Aaron squared away and then went off for a day of shopping. Bernard called them a cab and Kate let Claire give all the directions to where they should go. They went to some interior design places that Claire needed to look at furniture. Kate had looked around and noted some things possibly for a nursery. After having lunch they headed back out and Kate soon found herself out near Marshal Field's where Jack had taken her.

"Oh there's a maternity store down this block" Claire said. "It's a bit over priced but buying your self one or two items won't hurt." Claire said and she noticed Kate blushing. "What?" she asked.

"I've been there." Kate said with a small, secretive smile and Claire grinned.

"Oh you little slut you used the private fitting rooms didn't you?" she asked laughing and Kate giggled.

"Yeah we may have" she said.

Claire laughed. "Can I just say I don't know you that well but I'm really glad Jack found you." Claire said growing serious.

Kate smiled softly, "I'm really glad he found me too."

"I mean it Kate when he moved in he was in a bad place." Claire said sadly.

"Because of his ex-wife? I had the pleasure of meeting her yesterday." Kate said with a roll of her eyes.

"Ugh isn't she a real piece of work? I nearly pulled her hair out from the roots when she came by the apartment to see him once." Claire said bitterly.

"I restrained myself from pushing her into on coming traffic, only because I didn't want baby here to have to be born in a prison." Kate said rubbing her tummy with a smirk.

"Prison? Hell they'd probably give you a city award for excellence in community service for ridding the world of her. So what did the hag want now?" Claire asked as they went into another clothing store.

"Jack" Kate said simply. Claire stopped dead in her tracks.

"You have got to be kidding me?" she said

"Nope it seems her husband dumped her on the ass and she's been left thinking of all the good times she and Jack shared. He nicely told her to shove it but I doubt I've seen the last of her. I thought he might pitch her into traffic when he told her I was pregnant and she politely tried to suggest a place where we might get rid of it. It's sad though because I don't think Sarah was always like that Jack said they had been happy in the beginning." Kate said.

"Look don't take offense or hold anything I'm about to say against Jack. When he moved in he was broken and really lost. He stayed to himself and drank a bit. He had women over but none seemed to stay around to be considered a relationship. That was until Rose took him by the ear once and told him to straighten up his act. Up until then I think had Sarah come back he might have gone back with her, he was that sad and lonely. But when he came back from Vegas there was sadness but not as dangerous or destructive as before. And then when I saw him with you Kate his whole demeanor has changed. You have done wonders for him, Kate. You've given him a reason to smile. He gets so depressed when things go bad at work so I'm glad he doesn't have an empty home to return to, he has you. And now when you say Sarah wants him back, where before I had doubts? Now I know he'll never go back to her." Claire said and Kate smiled. It meant a lot that Claire cared for Jack and was beginning to care about her. She hated the idea of Jack being broken and sad. As long as she was alive Jack would never have to feel that way again.

"Thanks Claire" Kate said. "Jack and I started are relationship under unrealistic conditions but it's worked for us and I will fight tooth and nail to keep it. I've never had a charmed life and I have had to fight for things I've wanted. Jack is the only thing I could ever want and I'll never back down from that. I'll never give him up or give up on him." Kate said and Claire smiled at her. They both were feeling emotional so Claire quickly changed the subject before any tears were shed.

"Anywhoo so what do you think boy or girl?" Claire asked.

"I don't know I mean as long as he/she is healthy. I mean a girl would be fun because I could play dolls with her and dress up and we all know she'll have Jack wrapped around her little finger. A boy could be fun to a little mini-Jack. I…Ow" Kate stopped in her tracks holding her stomach.

"Kate what's wrong?" Claire asked concerned.

Kate frowned. "I'm not sure I think it's passed, maybe just indigestion." Kate said with a wave of her hand. Suddenly the sharp pain hit her again and she doubled over with a whimper.

"That's it we're going to the hospital." Claire exclaimed. "Just hang on Kate, everything is going to be fine. Taxi!" she yelled and a cab pulled up quickly. They crawled in and Claire called out a hospital name. Kate let out a cry as the pain hit her again and tears welled in her eyes.

"Claire's something wrong with the baby." She said scared. Claire looked at her worried and pulled Kate close to her and held her.

"It's ok Kate we're almost there just hang on." Claire said trying not to sound panicked. What had happened? Everything had been fine how could Kate go from healthy to sick so quickly.

"I want Jack" Kate said biting her lip at the pain.

"He'll be there Kate we're going to his hospital I'll find him for you the minute we're there." Claire assured her.

They pulled up in front of the hospital and with the cabbie's help they helped walk Kate in.

"Please we need help" Claire called and soon Kate was being put in a wheelchair and being wheeled off. Claire ran over to the admit desk. "Please can you page Dr. Jack Shephard?"

"Dr. Shephard is rather busy at the moment." The man said barley looking up. Claire lost her patience and slammed her hands on the desk getting his attention and the attention of the other clerk, Lorraine who just walked up. "Listen up you little twerp you need to page Jack Shephard because his pregnant girlfriend was just brought in with painful stomach cramps. So I advise you page him right now before I come over this desk and shove this phone up your…"

"I will page him sweetheart" Lorraine said interrupting. She grabbed the phone and dialed some numbers rapidly and then hung up. "I paged him an emergency call so as soon as he can he will call down here. The girl admitted was she a pretty little thing with brown hair?" Lorraine asked curiously.

"Yes" Claire said not really noticing the older woman's smile. "I have to make some phone calls please let me know when you get a hold of Jack" she pleaded. Claire went to call Rose to see if she could watch Aaron for a little while longer and she called Charlie mostly to hear his voice to calm her frightened heart. The baby had to be ok it just had to.

Jack was just packing up his files in his briefcase when his pager went off. The accident on the freeway had been massive and Jack had been going non-stop since he arrived. Fortunately they had saved more people than they had lost so there was some hope in that. He heard his pager go and sighed wearily as he considered ignoring it but he looked down. It was an emergency call from the admissions desk. Confused Jack called down and Lorraine answered the phone.

"Jack honey, your Kate was just brought in with abdominal pains…" before she could finish Jack had hung up the phone and raced out the door heading for the emergency room. The elevator ride down was excruciating as his mind raced. Kate was having pains, was the baby ok? Was Kate ok? He began to work himself into a panic he couldn't lose them he couldn't. When the elevator bell announced his arrival he flew out the door and ran smack into his father.

"Excuse me" Jack said barley paying attention his mind only focused on getting to Kate.

"Jack stop" Christian said gripping Jacks shoulders.

"Let me go Dad." Jack said trying to break his grip. "You might not care but Kate was admitted with abdominal pain and I need to get to her."

"I know son I already heard" Christian said.

"Then why are you stopping me let me go. I need to be with her." His voice was becoming slightly hysterical. He needed to get to Kate.

"Jack stop!" Christian said firmly holding his squirming son.

"Dammit Dad, let me go. I need to be with her." He shouted.

"I know Jack I know you need to be with her but you need to calm down. Kate is probably scared and confused right now. And you are not only just the baby's father but you are also a doctor. When you go into that room she is going to be looking at you, studying you to see if anything is wrong. If you go in there like this you are going to scare the hell out her and stress her out which is the absolute worst thing she needs right now." Christian said squeezing Jack's shoulders. Jack stopped and came to his senses his father was right he needed to calm down for Kate's sake. He took a couple deep breaths and exhaled slowly. When he was composed he looked at his dad.

"Thanks Dad, I'm better now" he said feeling more in control though he really wanted to be with Kate. "I uh appreciate this, I know things didn't end well before with us." Jack said not wanting to have a long talk but wanting to relay to his father his gratitude.

"It's ok I went home and told your mother everything. I'm sleeping on couch and she is chomping at the bit to meet your Kate. She's pretty excited about being a grandmother." Christian said with a soft smile. "Go see her, I'm sure everything will be ok" he said patting Jack on the back. Jack gave him a nod and went down the hall. After getting Kate's room number he made his way to her room. Outside the door he took a deep breath as a doctor everything that could be wrong was racing through his mind but he stifled it down knowing his dad was right. If he went in there panicked Kate would pick it up immediately. He opened the door and found Kate sitting up in bed she had wires and an IV sticking out from her. Claire was sitting next to her telling her funny stories trying to distract Kate from her worries. When Kate looked up and saw Jack her lower lip began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears.

"Jack" she whimpered holding her arms out to him. Jack moved across the room and sat on the bed and he gently pulled her into his embrace. Kate hugged him tightly and he could feel her tears seeping through his shirt.

"What have they told you baby?" Jack asked stroking her back soothingly.

Kate sat up and sniffled her eyes red. "I don't know they said they had to runs some tests. They gave me some medication and the pain stopped but I'm so scared Jack they kept using words I didn't understand and they won't tell me anything about the baby. I swear Jack I didn't do anything wrong we went to lunch and did some light shopping. I hadn't even carried anything heavy." She said her voice wobbling.

Jack pulled her close. "I know baby I know you didn't do anything. I just need you to stay calm ok? The baby needs you to relax. I know its hard but I need you to do it ok?" he asked and Kate nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't with you when it happened." Jack said stroking her cheek.

"It's ok Claire got me here right away." Kate said. Jack looked over to Claire who was watching them interact with a goofy smile on her face.

"Thanks Claire I owe you" Jack said dead serious.

"Oh please it's not like I was just going to leave her behind." Claire said throwing a wink at Kate who smiled in return. "Now if you two will excuse me I'm going to call Rose and check in with Aaron." She smiled and let herself out. A few minutes later a woman in a white doctor's coat entered the room.

"Jack" how nice to see you." The doctor said shaking Jack's hand.

"Kate this is Sherry McDonald the hospital's best OBGYN." Jack said making the introductions. "Be straight with me Sherry how is the baby?" Jack asked.

Ooh scary cliff hanger ending…just hit the little review and give me your thoughts.


	18. Chapter 18

Here you guys go.

**CHAPTER 8**

Dr. McDonald gave Jack a patient smile, other doctors always made the worst patients, or worst companions of patients.

"Take a seat Jack" she said kindly. She watched as he settled on the bed and Kate took his hand immediately she saw the young woman's hand shaking slightly. "The baby is fine" she said and she saw both adults relax visibly. Well Jack relaxed for a second before he went back into doctor mode his mind racing with scenarios.

"Then what is going on is Kate ok, why was she having abdominal pain?" Jack asked concerned stroking Kate's hand with his fingertips.

"There has been some slight tearing in Kate's placental wall. Nothing extreme and nothing that we can't monitor and control. The baby is ok and Kate, as long as you follow the instructions given to you, you and this baby will be perfectly fine." Dr. McDonald addressed Kate.

"Tearing in my placental wall? Did I do something wrong, did I hurt myself?" Kate asked her voice quivering slightly as she thought that she might have endangered her baby somehow.

"No Kate you did nothing wrong. Tearing in the placental wall is a normal occurrence; however yours began to tear slightly early. The damage is very minimal and I don't foresee any problems. It can be slightly painful but looking at your history and your current stats, I see nothing abnormal besides the fact that it is happening a little early with you. Rare but not unheard of, what I'm going to prescribe to you is to keep up with your pregnancy care. I've read you take vitamins, I want you to keep doing that. The only thing I want you to do for at least the next two weeks is I want you to take it easy. That means no traveling or spending the day on your feet. You can do menial tasks but pace yourself. I want you to do this for two weeks and then come back so we can monitor your progress." The doctor said.

"What happens in two weeks?" Kate asked. She leaned against Jack drawing strength by being near him.

"We will check the progress of the tearing, if in two weeks there is no more tearing, which I suspect the case will be, then you can go on with your pregnancy as normal." Dr. McDonald said.

"What if the tearing continues?" Jack asked.

"Depending on the range of tearing I might recommend light rest to full bed rest. I know this all seems very scary and it's easy to fall into the worse case scenario but I really do believe by the tests I've seen Kate is going to be perfectly fine. Now do you have any questions?" she asked.

"You really believe this is ok, you're not lying to not scare me?" Kate asked biting her lip.

"Kate I'm a doctor, my job is to tell you the truth about your health, not coddle you. If I thought there was a serious problem I wouldn't sugar coat it or avoid it because I was too nervous to tell you." She said serious and Kate nodded believing her and finally allowing herself to relax. She clasped Jack's hand tighter and looked up and saw he was returning her gaze. She gave him a small smile and he leaned down and they kissed gently. When they pulled away Kate blushed and whispered into his ear. Jack let out a gasp of laughter and he looked at her affectionately and gave her a slight shake of his head grinning at her.

"Kate would like to know about sex" Jack said pulling her close to him as she buried her face into his shoulder blushing.

Dr. McDonald chuckled, it was no secret that most woman in this hospital had at one point fantasized about being with the gorgeous Jack Shephard, herself included. That was until she married the love of her life anyway. She understood the pregnant woman's need to be with her lover.

"It shouldn't be a problem I think as long as you take it easy. No swinging from the chandeliers" she said giving Kate a wink who blushed brightly and Jack looked down an embarrassed smile on his face. "Any sign of pain though I want you back here right away." She said seriously and she saw Jack nod.

"I know this seems scary Kate but believe me when is say I have no reason to think that anything is really wrong and I know that Jack here is going to take good care of you." She said and she watched as Jack nuzzled Kate gently with his nose and the young woman smiled kissing his chin. "Now on to some other things" Dr. McDonald went to the door and Kate her say something to someone in the hallway. A second later an orderly came in wheeling a machine in.

"What do you say we take a look at this baby of yours?" Dr. McDonald said with a grin.

They set up the sonogram machine and Kate waited anxiously as they pressed the wand to her belly looking for signs of life.

"Well there look at that" the doctor said and Jack felt his breath being taken away as he saw the tiny little fetus on the monitor. He swallowed hard his eyes blurring slightly as he looked at his daughter or son for the first time.

"I don't see it" Kate said squinting at the machine looking for her baby. Jack moved forward and pointed to a spot on the monitor.

"See that right there" and Kate nodded. Jack grinned. "That's our baby, sweetheart. Tucked safe and sound inside you."

Kate felt the tears slip down her cheeks as she saw the little life that she had been carrying within her. Jack moved back to her and gently wiped her tears away. The doctor turned a knob on the machine and soon they heard the sound of their baby's heartbeat. Both parents grinned and looked adoringly at one another.

"I love you" he said with a smile and Kate threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

"I love you too so much" she said snuggling into his embrace.

Dr. McDonald smiled as she politely excused herself taking one glance back watching as Jack cuddled Kate in his arms.

Charlie had come and picked up Claire so an hour later Jack brought Kate home. Kate watched him as he drove home and she couldn't help but let the emotions overwhelm her for a little bit. She had been so scared when she felt the pain in her stomach. The thought of losing this child scared her to death. She was afraid to admit it and didn't say it out loud but sitting in the bed waiting with Claire Kate had thought the worst. What would happen if she lost her baby? The idea was unbearable and Kate immediately stuffed the thought away and decided right then and there she would not lose this child. She wouldn't allow it. A part of her in those few seconds of doubt though wondered what would happen to her and Jack if the worst had happened. If there was no child would Jack still want her? Sitting in the car watching him Kate couldn't help but wonder if Jack only loved her because of this baby. If she had just shown up, not pregnant would he have given her this much effort?

She shook her head, she was being ridiculous, plus she remembered the way he looked at her when he first saw her in the waiting room before he even knew she was pregnant. It was a look full of passion and wonder, even if there was no baby, maybe they would have moved slower yes, but Kate realized that they still would have ended up together.

"What are you looking at?" Jack asked looking towards her for a second before letting his eyes go back to the road his tone teasing.

Kate smiled happily. "I'm looking at the father of my unborn baby." She said sweetly and she watched as a proud smile moved across his face. "I was also thinking how glad I am the doctor said we could have sex." She said coyly and she watched as his jaw tightened ever so slightly.

"We'll see about that" was all he said. When they pulled in front of the apartment building, Jack came around to open her door, he surprised her even more when he scooped her up in his arms and carried her.

"Jack what are you dong?" Kate said hanging on to him.

"I'm carrying you, and you're going to want to get used to it because for the next two weeks I will be waiting hand and foot on you." He said kissing her forehead and Kate snuggled happily down into his embrace. When he got to the door it was opened by a concerned looking Bernard.

"Is everything ok Dr. Shephard?" he asked. They had heard from Claire but only bits and pieces being Claire hadn't been told everything as she had left early.

"Everything's ok Bernard" Jack said with a gracious smile. "Kate just needs to take it easy for a couple weeks and then go back for a check up."

"Well you take good care of her, when Rose heard what happened she attacked the kitchen with a fury. She's making you meals to last you a lifetime." Bernard said with a chuckle.

"Tell her thanks would you Bernard." Kate asked, and the older gentleman gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

"You take care Miss Austen, we just got you here and we'd like to keep you." He said and Kate felt her emotions rise, she was turning into a blubbering mess.

"Thank you Bernard and I'm not going anywhere" she said looking up into Jack's loving gaze. He carried her into the elevator and she hit the button for him since his hands were full.

"You going to carry me everywhere?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If need be" Jack said seriously though Kate could see the teasing glimmer in his eyes.

"I've got to be heavy." She said her voice matter of fact. Jack just made a pssf noise and carried her out of the elevator when it arrived on their floor. He carried her to the door and Kate took great pleasure digging his door key out of his front pocket taking longer than necessary to do so. When they entered the apartment Jack took her straight into the bedroom. He took off her coat and shoes and then began to undress her. Kate watchd him with wonder as he never took his eyes away from her as he slowly and gently peeled the clothes from her. When she was down to her bra and panties, Jack kissed her lips ever so gently.

"Wait here" he whispered and went into the bathroom.

"Where am I going to go?" she asked herself her body humming from his attention. A few minutes later he came out and he kissed her again just as gentle. He slipped his hands around her back and gently undid the snap of her bra. He peeled it off of her slowly, exposing her breasts that he loved to him.

"They're getting bigger" he said gently cupping and stroking her and her head fell back as he sucked a nipple into his mouth. "Soon our baby will be feeding from these beautiful breasts." He said in awe he looked at her his eyes dark with passion. "Will you let me drink from you" he asked and Kate nodded her eyes rolling to the back of her head as he moved to the other nipple. When he was done he moved back and slowly removed her panties. He slid them down her legs and threw them into the hamper. He leaned in and kissed her again and Kate leaned back to pull him on top of her when he shocked her by scooping her back up into his arms. He carried her into the bathroom and her breath caught in her throat. In the few minutes he was gone he had filled the tub and placed a couple candles around the room. He then walked to the tub and he knelt down and gently placed her into the water. Kate groaned as she was surrounded by the heavenly warmth of the water. Jack picked up a small pillow that she never even saw him take and he placed it behind her head.

"Relax my love" he said brushing a curl out of her eyes.

"Will you be joining me?" she asked. She loved Jack's bath because it easily fit two as if the maker knew Jack would need it for the both of them.

"No sweetheart this bath is just for you. I want you to just sit here and relax. How about some juice and when you're all done I'll take you out and you can crawl into bed and I'll even get the fireplace going. How would you like that?" he asked gently and Kate sighed happily.

"Sounds perfect however I think it would be better if you were with me." She said stroking his cheek gently. "The doctor said it would be ok."

"Shh" he gently placed his fingers over her lips. "There will be plenty of time for that later." With that he leaned in and kissed her deeply. When he pulled away he smiled at her and then excused himself from the room. Kate sighed sad he had left but also enjoying the warm bath.

Jack went out into the kitchen and poured a glass of apple juice for Kate and brought it into the bathroom for her to enjoy while bathing. He kissed her gently and excused himself from the room once again. When he got into the bedroom he started the fireplace going and made a couple phone calls. While Kate was in the tub Rose stopped by with some food so Jack wouldn't have to go to the trouble or 'ordering out' she had said rolling her eyes at that one. He thanked her and quickly popped over to Claire's to let her know Kate was fine and how grateful he was to her. When he returned he went into the bathroom to find Kate half asleep in the warm water. He sat beside her on the floor and rolled his sleeves up. Reaching over he grabbed some pink sponge looking thing that she had added to his masculine bathroom. He smiled his masculine non decorated apartment had all kinds of feminine things popping up all over and he loved it.

He dipped the sponge into the warm water and brought it to her shoulder where he gently ran it over her the warm water dripping down her arm and chest.

Kate opened her eyes and moaned appreciatively.

"Hi" she said with a soft smile.

"Hello, yourself" Jack said running the sponge across her collar bone and towards the nape of her neck.

"It would be easier to bathe me if you got into the tub with me." Kate said kissing his hand. Jack smiled and set the sponge down he let his arm slip under the water and Kate waited to feel him touch her sensitive center but instead his hand stopped on her stomach gently cupping her. She looked at him with love in her eyes.

"Our baby" he said softly and he looked at her with awe, "We saw our baby today Kate." He stroked her belly gently.

"I know" Kate said getting choked up. Jack took a few seconds and cleared his throat and his rising emotions Kate smiled to herself; he was a man after all. He looked at her and smirked.

"You stay in here any longer you're going to turn into a prune and our baby will become a raisin.

Kate giggled at that and leaned forward and pulled the plug from the tub. Jack watched as the water went down the drain exposing more and more of her body. He got up and grabbed a fluffy towel and set it on the sink he leaned down and pulled Kate to her feet and she shivered as the cold air hit her. He quickly wrapped the towel around her and began to dry her off. When he was satisfied she was dry he worked on the tips of her hair that had fallen into the bathwater. When he was done he scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom. Kate stared amazed. He had a fire going and the sheets were turned down, on the nightstand stood a tray of food. He laid her on the bed and took the towel from her throwing it on to the hamper. He pulled the blankets up over her nude body and kissed her shoulder gently.

"Are you hungry?" he asked his lips moving to her neck and Kate just made an incoherent noise not able to form words. Jack pulled away and grabbed the tray of food. He then proceeded to feed her himself. Kate could hardly stand it he was so perfect. He would gently blow on the hot food before letting it graze her lips and every once in awhile took a small bite for himself. Kate realized she was famished and finished off the whole plate. When she was done Jack moved the tray back to the night stand.

"If I keep this eating like this I'm going to weigh a ton" she said making a face and Jack chuckled.

"I don't care how much you weigh" he said brushing her hair back from her eyes.

"Yeah right you say that now" Kate said with a roll of her eyes.

Jack just smiled and shook his head. "Pregnant or not, skinny or heavy, curly or straight" he tugged a curl gently. "It doesn't matter to me I will love you until the day I die."

Kate felt herself begin to cry as his words washed away her fears of his only loving her because of the baby. Jack pulled her into his embrace stroking her back.

"I'm sorry sweetheart I didn't mean to make you cry" he whispered. Kate shook her head and pulled away and brushed her eyes.

"Do you have any idea how amazingly spectacular you are?" she asked a few stray tears slipping down her cheeks where Jack gently wiped them away.

"Nah" he said with an embarrassed look. "You're doing all the hard work I'm just tagging along. Plus you are probably going to be sick of me being I called the hospital and took the next two weeks off so I could wait on you hand and foot." Jack said with a small smile.

"Oh Jack" Kate said hugging him tight. "Are you sure you want to do that? I know how much your work means to you." He silenced her by gently placing his fingers over her lips.

"You and this baby are my number one priority, not the hospital, not anymore." He said. He cleared his throat. "I don't think I've ever been as scared as I was when I heard you were admitted. I was freaking out with my need to get to you to reassure myself you were ok. Kate I love our baby more than I can ever explain but when I thought for even a second I could lose you I was devastated. I can't lose you Kate I love you too much." He said softly and Kate hugged him tightly whispering her own words of love to him. Soon their soft words turned into soft kisses and soft touches.

"Jack" Kate moaned pulling him closer her need for him driving her insane.

"Can you lay on your stomach Kate do you think that will be ok?" Jack asked and Kate nodded she rolled on her stomach and waited excitedly to feel Jack lower himself on and into her. He didn't though instead she heard a couple noises and then felt Jack's hand on her as he placed something wet on her back she looked over and saw a bottle of warming massage lubricant and she sighed happily as Jack began to massage her shoulders and back. He moved his hands up her arms and to her lower back making her moan with contentment. He moved down her body pulling the covers with him as he worked the back of her thighs and shins.

"Roll over honey" he said and Kate did and she watched as he put more of the lubricant on his hands and he massaged her legs and feet he moved his hands up and gently kneaded her breast and Kate moaned in pleasure the warming lotion sending tingles down her spine. Jack moved from the bed and Kate watched hungrily as he undressed. She opened her arms in anticipation for him to join her.

"Do you know what this is?" Jack asked Kate motioning to the personal lubricant. Kate nodded her eyes glued to him.

"I'm not going to take you hard Kate I know what the doctor said but I'm still your lover and the father of this baby and I don't want to take any chances. I will however use this to heighten the slow love making." Jack said grabbing the bottle form the nightstand.

"Let me" Kate said sitting up. She took the bottle and poured some on her hand and ran it up and down his cock watching it grow inside her hands. He then eased her back and slid slowly and carefully deep inside her. Kate whimpered and Jack froze.

"Are you ok?" he asked ready to pull out but Kate wrapped her arms and legs around him.

"Oh god Jack its incredible" she moaned. The lubricant had helped him slide inside her easily and it was also sending warm and tingling sensations through her sensitive core.

Jack took shallow and gentle thrusts kissing her deeply and Kate sighed happily feeling him inside her. She sighed and hugged him closer pulling on his buttocks to make him go in farther. Jack looked at her and she smiled.

"It's ok Jack no pain just pleasure, please love me fully" she begged. Jack didn't increase his speed but he put more force into his slow and steady thrusts. He grew harder within her as he heard her moans of passion. He loved making her moan and when she was safe again he would take her hard so he could hear her scream his praises. Kate pulled him down taking his lips with her own as he continued thrusting deep inside her. He reached down and gently played with her clit and Kate felt the blood pound in her ears. She began to pull him closer and tighter and Jack picked up his pace just a bit. The only sounds in the room were the crackling of the fire, the slight squeaking of the bed and the gaspy exclamations from the two lovers. Kate felt her body tighten and then soon exploded in his arms, she cried out his name and her love for him as waves of bliss washed through her body. When she collapsed she squeezed his long hard cock inside her with her internal muscles and Jack groaned. Kate did it again encouraged by his moaning. Soon between her internal massaging of him and her words of love Jack erupted within her filling her with his seed. If there wasn't a baby already Kate would have wished for one at that moment as his white hot release filled her up. When he was done he gently pulled out of her and laid down next to her so as to not squish her. Kate rolled onto her side and hugged him tight to her. She placed her lips near his ear.

"I love you, I love you, I love you" she said and Jack hugged her tighter.

"I love you Kate" Jack said and Kate kissed him and they loved each other's mouths sensually with their tongues. Between the bath, food, massage and love making Kate was ready to fall into a deep slumber any second. Jack got them comfortable on the bed and pulled her close and she snuggled into his embrace. He felt her drift off and he kissed the top of her head. He smiled to himself knowing he had a big surprise for Kate and he couldn't wait to give it to her.

Ok gang so first off all medical information in this story about Kate's condition, totally made up I have no idea if there is anything called placental tearing or anything. So basically I made it all up and tried to pass it off like I knew what I was saying so it would sound somewhat believable. So if you have medical training and are reading this like what? Just know I made it all up. So please review and all that jazz.


	19. Chapter 19

Sorry for the long wait guys unfortunately life has been too hectic to keep up on my writing but I promise that when I find time I am writing.

**CHAPTER 9**

Jack was only able to get one week off because of a difficult spinal surgery scheduled for the next week. It was on an eight year old boy and the parents had asked for Jack personally. When told that Jack was out of the hospital for two weeks. The father did his own research and showed up on Jack's doorstop pleading for help. Though Kate had been looking forward to two whole weeks with Jack to herself the father's story had touched her and she encouraged Jack to do the surgery.

The first week they had together had been wonderful. Kate of course loved making love to Jack and that was definitely on the top of her list of favorite things to do with him. However, the quiet moments were her favorite too. On that Sunday afternoon Kate had gone into the bedroom and had taken a nap while Jack ran to the grocery store. He came home while she was still asleep, so he stretched out on the couch and turned on the Chicago Bears game. Soon he was engrossed in the game and he tried to keep his voice down as he found himself yelling at the television. He had looked up to see a sleepy Kate padding out of the bedroom.

"Hey baby did I wake you?" Jack had asked smiling at her droopy eyes and tousled hair.

Kate shook her head and grabbed a blanket. She then came over to him and lay down on top of him pulling the blanket behind her. Jack smiled as she stretched out on top of him. He grabbed the blanket and settled it around her as she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled her face into his neck.

"I thought why should I sleep alone in there when I could sleep with you in here." She said sleepily.

"You want me to turn off the football game?" he asked stroking her hair.

"No you watch the game, I just want to be with you." She said kissing his jaw and minutes later she was back asleep.

Moments like that made Kate feel just as happy as she did when they made love. Kate never knew those kind of feelings could ever exist. It was Monday now and Jack's week was over and he was going back to work. Kate knew she'd miss him like crazy. She thought being together for a whole week cooped up in the apartment would drive her nuts but they had gotten to know each other better and though Jack had been attentive he hadn't smothered her.

She awoke to her cheek being gently stroked. She opened her eyes and saw Jack sitting on the edge of the bed. She yawned and stretched her arms above her head she then moved them to extend out to him. He leaned in and hugged her gently kissing her on the lips.

"I have to go to work, sweetheart." He said and Kate moaned her lips finding his again. They hadn't made love in over a week. Jack had made love to her that one night after bathing her and that was it. Kate figured he was holding back until she was better but her body was missing his. She enjoyed the touching and cuddling they did immensely, but she needed him to make love to her soon or she'd lose her mind. She tried to pull him on top of her but he resisted.

"No baby I have to go" Jack said pulling away.

Kate sighed and pouted she glanced at the clock. "It's early Jack you still have a little time." She said fiddling with his tie.

"I need to go in to look over the notes for the Morrison boy. I only have his consult so I should be home early." Jack said playing with one of her curls.

Kate sat up and kissed him again. "Jack I'm carrying your baby, will you do me a favor?" she asked.

"Sure" Jack said seriously.

"When you get home tonight will you please make love to me?" she pleaded.

Jack smiled gently. "We'll see" he said kissing her head. "Just because I'm leaving doesn't mean you get to run all over the place. Stay on the bed or the couch. If you need anything call Claire or Rose. I have someone stopping by later to check on you." Jack said.

Kate groaned. "Jack I don't need a babysitter I need you to make love to me." She said kissing him hard. Jack gave in for a few minutes until he broke away to breathe.

"As soon as the two weeks are up." Jack said.

"The doctor said it was ok Jack." Kate said stroking his cheek.

"I know but Kate I don't want to take any chances. I just want to be careful." He said running his fingers through her hair.

"Jack I need you, I'm losing my mind." She said with a small smile and Jack chuckled, he understood her frustration. He had taken quite a few cold showers in the last week.

"I know baby, I know." He said softly. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't Jack not if we take it slow, like last time." Kate said.

Jack sighed and kissed the tip of her nose. "We'll talk about this when I get home."

"Promise?" Kate asked.

"I promise." Jack said kissing her deeply. And then he was gone.

Kate was bored she was sitting on the couch watching some talk show when the doorbell rang. She eased off the couch and made her way to the doorway. She looked out the peephole and let out an excited squeal. She flung the door open.

"Shannie!" she exclaimed. Soon her and her best friend were hugging tightly. They moved into the apartment and Kate quickly closed the door. "Shannie what are you doing here?"

Shannon let her eyes move around the apartment and then she focused on Kate. "You are supposed to be on bed rest. So let's get you settled and then we'll talk."

Kate and Shannon moved to the couch and Kate got comfortable. "How do you know I need bed rest?" Kate asked.

"Jack called me, he told me he couldn't be off your two weeks so he wanted to know if I could come up and spend this week with you. Which by the way should tell you how much I love you because it's damn freezing out there." Shannon said.

"The weather takes some getting used to." Kate said.

"I'm sure Jack helps you keep warm." Shannon said with a smirk. "By the way can I say your man has the sexiest voice? When he called me I thought I had won the lottery. Some gorgeous sounding man calling for me, until he explained who he was and I realized that I was mentally undressing this imaginary man who turned out to be yours." Shannon said with a roll of her eyes.

"As long as you are just doing it mentally then that's ok." Kate said with a laugh. She knew Shannon would never be a threat to her and Jack's relationship so she didn't mind the good natured teasing.

"Yeah well I started to remember what he looked like in Vegas and I started to feel really guilty. He doesn't happen to have a single twin brother does he?" Shannon asked.

"No he doesn't and if you ogle him in front me I might have to smack you." Kate said with a sweet smile.

"Your pregnancy hormones have made you bitchy. What happened to sweet, sensitive and giving Kate? The old Kate would have let me have a go with the hunk." Shannon said trying to hold in her smile.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yeah well that Kate is dead, I killed her. " Both women burst into laughter.

"So how are you really?" Shannon asked growing serious. "Jack explained it to me but I want to hear it from you."

"I'm ok really. I had a pretty bad scare but I'm fine. I have to go back to the doctor in a week but I haven't had any pain since the first time. I'm just so glad I've had Jack he's been so wonderful." Kate said and Shannon noticed her eyes took on a dreamy look.

"Well Jack called and told me you were on bed rest and that he couldn't stay with you so he asked me to come baby-sit you. He paid for me to come out here and he said I could sleep in the guest bedroom. Which I'm not sure I want to, if these walls are thin I don't want to have to listen to you two going at it like rabbits." Shannon said with a smirk.

Kate sighed unhappily, "Well I doubt there will be much danger in that." She muttered.

Shannon looked at her curiously. "Are things ok between you and Jack? I thought things were going well."

"Oh they are" Kate assured her. "Its just since I've been put on bed rest Jack hasn't touched me much. Well that's not true, he touches me a lot but it's been a week since we've had sex and I'm losing my mind." Kate said with a groan. She was glad Shannon was here they had been friends long enough that the discussion of sex was not uncomfortable.

"Oh my god a whole week without sex!" exclaimed Shannon feigning shock.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Alright alright, don't tease."

"Seriously you're upset you haven't had sex in a week?" Shannon asked.

"You don't understand Shannie, since I've gotten here besides the first couple days, since then every day Jack and I have had sex. I know he's trying to be careful with me because of the baby but still I want him so bad." She practically whined. "It also doesn't help that my pregnancy hormones are raging out of control."

"Well he is a doctor," Shannon said. "Maybe he really believes there could be a problem for you and the baby if you guys do have sex."

"We had sex the first night and nothing bad happened. In fact I haven't had any problems, knock on wood. I mean all I'm saying is if it was ok the first night why isn't it ok now?" Kate asked feeling exasperated.

"Sounds like he's scared" Shannon said with a shrug remembering the worry she heard in his voice when he had called her in Vegas to ask her to come out to Chicago.

"Maybe." Kate said with a sigh. "He doesn't act scared, though maybe he's just hiding it from me. Which I wish he wouldn't do, I want him to be open and honest with me. He expects me to share all of my feelings with him why can't he do the same?"

"He's the man and the man isn't supposed to feel weak." Shannon said matter of fact.

"That's bullshit" Kate said bluntly. "I mean he may feel that way but its crap. I want to be there for him just as much as he has been there for me." Kate said.

"Well then instead of whining at him about the lack of sex why don't you try telling him that instead?" Shannon said with a smirk.

"I do not whine" Kate said indignantly.

"Ok what was the last thing you said to him this morning besides good bye and I love you?" Shannon asked.

Kate smiled sheepishly, "Ok so maybe I whine a little. But one you can't blame me, he's irresistible, two I can't be held accountable for my pregnancy hormones and three, aren't you supposed to be on my side?" she asked.

Shannon grinned. "Well after hearing all these wonderful things about Jack I've decided maybe it would be best if I took his side so he'd like me and he'd dump you for me." Shannon said teasing.

Kate smirked, "They'd never find your body if you tried." Both women giggled. "Seriously though I need to get better while I'm here Jack is surrounded by psychotic nurses and an evil ex-wife. I need to protect what's mine." She said grinning.

"Ooh do tell me about these other women. I like to know what I'm up against. Since you're out for the count I take my responsibilities of filling in for you very seriously." She gave Kate a naughty wink.

"Oh I bet you do, the only filling in you can do is if any crazy people show up at the door you can kick them out." Kate said.

"But Kate, Jack hasn't had sex in a week that's horrific for a gorgeous man like himself. I mean what kind of friend would I be if I didn't step up and fill in for you when you are unable to fulfill your duties?" Shannon asked innocently. Kate's reply what to smack her in the head with a pillow.

The afternoon went by quickly as Kate filled in Shannon with everything from Ana, Sarah and Jack's dad. Shannon was shocked by the lunatics that seemed to surround Jack. No wonder the guy came to Vegas and picked Kate up. He was definitely in need of major stress relief. Before Kate realized time had passed so quickly she heard the familiar sound of Jack's key in the door.

She immediately noticed that he looked very tired and stressed. Today was just supposed to be a consult, what had gone wrong?

Jack looked up and noticed the two women on the couch. He smiled tiredly and shook Shannon's hand when Kate introduced them. Sensing something was up Shannon politely excused herself to the guest bedroom to rest up from her travel to give them some time alone.

Jack sat beside Kate and she stroked his hair concerned.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" she asked concerned.

Jack leaned into the hand that was stoking his hair. "It was the day from hell" he said. Kate scooted to sit on his lap wrapping her arms around him.

"Tell me about it." She said kissing his temple.

"The consult didn't go well. We had run some more tests and the tumor growing on the little boy's spine is worse than predicted. Kate I don't think he'll survive the surgery. I had to tell his parents that all the hope they've had might be for naught." Jack said wrapping his arms around her resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Is there any hope? Could he survive?" Kate asked.

"There's always a chance, and he will die without the surgery. I just feel so bad for them and I won't lie I'm worried I'm not good enough to help him." Jack said.

"All you can do is your best Jack and if they know the chances then they have to know that whatever you do is the best that can be done for him." she said sadly. "What else is going on?" she asked. She saw a look pass through his eyes and then it was gone.

"Nothing" he said quickly.

"Jack, don't do this, don't hold back from me." Kate said sternly.

"It's nothing that you need to worry about Kate, you have enough on your plate." Jack said.

"I worry about you Jack and nothing will change that. It hurts to know that you are going through things and you don't tell me. I worry more when I know there is something wrong and you hold your feelings back. Please Jack you expect me to lay my burdens on your shoulders well that's a two way street buddy." Kate said stubbornly.

Jack looked at her with love and pride in his eyes. "I really do love you Kate. More than anything." He said awed by this woman's ability to care so much about him.

"Good cause I love you so much." She said kissing the tip of his nose. "So spill it what's going on with you?"

Jack sighed, "Well on top of worrying about you and Baby, which I will always do there's no changing that" he said before she could protest that she and Baby were just fine. "I've got this poor kid struggling to survive. My father has been trying persistently to get me to go over to my parent's house. Even though my dad and I came to a very tentative understanding during the scare last week, I'm not sure I trust him and why he wants to talk to me."

Kate grimaced, though she was grateful when Jack had told her of Christian's help during her scare, she would never forget the sound of his father hitting him. She stroked his cheek as he continued. It was like a dam broke and Jack was letting everything go at once.

"I'm getting burned out at work Kate. I have a waiting list of people wanting me to perform "miracle" surgeries on them. My boss is hinting that I should think about applying for the Chief of Surgery position since my dad is retiring in a year. It would be more money but more hours. I'd never be home and I don't want that. Before maybe when I was alone, but I have for the first time a family to come home to. I have enough money to live comfortably on to still work as a doctor I don't need the position to survive. I mean we can do without a million dollar home and five hundred thousand dollar car right?" he asked with a tired sigh.

Kate rubbed the back of his neck. "I'd live in a run down hotel room with you." She said sweetly. "Jack I want you to do what you want to do. If being Chief is something you've always wanted then we will handle it. We will make it work. Yes a baby is coming but that doesn't mean you have to give up your plans. We're adults Jack not teenage kids with so much to lose." Kate said kissing his chin.

"I don't want to be Chief, I never did. I love being a doctor but the hospital hours are getting to me, they were before we met. I got a phone call from a clinic downtown. They offered me a private practice position. I'd make my own hours; decide who I do surgeries on. It would be a lot less stressful." He said. "I'm a spinal surgeon Kate and I enjoy that job, at the hospital though I find myself performing almost every kind of surgery possible. At the clinic I could limit my cases to spinal surgeries only. Maybe even consult out to the hospital on certain occasions" Jack said and Kate heard the twinge of excitement in his voice. Truthfully she would probably love for him to take the new job. She'd have more time with him and he wouldn't be so tired and stressed.

"Money would be tight for a bit in the beginning I'd have to insure myself against malpractice suits and that costs a lot but it has the potential to making more money than I am now." He said.

"You know money doesn't matter to me Jack. If you said you wanted to quit so you could volunteer for a free clinic I'd support you. Plus even though it looks like I won't be working right away, when Baby is ready I will be glad to work and to add to the income. I could maybe get a job that I could do from home or something so I could be home with Baby." She said.

"The thing I like about this clinic Kate is it doesn't matter who you are or if you have insurance they take on cases where people don't have a lot of money. I could do surgeries for kids and blue collar workers and veterans who need the surgery but can't afford the normal health care system." Jack said.

"It sounds like you have your mind made up." She said smiling softly.

"I wouldn't make any decisions without you Kate. If you want me to stay at the hospital because it's more secure I will." Jack said seriously.

Kate leaned and kissed him gently. "This new job means you will be home for dinner and won't have to work at three in the morning except when emergencies arise?" she asked. "More time to have you for myself? I think you know what my answer is Jack." Kate said smiling at him. Jack grinned and hugged her close. She could feel the tension drain from his body and Kate he truly wanted this and so did she.

"So what else has got you stressed?" she asked and Jack grimaced.

"You won't like it at all." Jack said.

"Ana?" Kate asked coldly, and Jack shook his head.

"Ana really hasn't bothered me lately there is a new doctor in orthopedics so she has her eyes set on him. He seems to genuinely like her as well so who knows maybe Ana finally found true love." Jack said with a shrug.

"Good" Kate said. "I hope she stays very happy, very far away from you."

Jack chuckled but then grew serious. "It's Sarah" he said playing with her hair. "She's been coming around the hospital a lot lately and she seems to have it in her head that we should get back together. I've managed to avoid her but I don't want you getting extra stressed especially if she doesn't give up and ends up coming here." Jack said.

"I'll kick her ass." Kate said and Jack laughed but Kate shook her head. "I'm serious Jack, I'm from Las Vegas I know places to bury bodies where they will never be found. Plus if she comes here this week I have Shannon here to do all the heavy lifting." She smiled sweetly. Jack laughed and he kissed her happily. The kiss soon became hungry and Kate moaned against his mouth parting her lips to give his tongue access. Kate felt her control slipping as she felt him run his fingers along the edge of her shirt teasing her with promise of what those fingers could do if they breached the barrier.

When breathing became essential, they pulled apart. Kate nipped at his lips.

"Please Jack I need you so much. I promise we can make love it won't be a problem." Kate pleaded. She played dirty by stroking her hand down his chest and then across his pants where she could feel the bulge of his manhood.

"Ok" he conceded. "We will give it a try tonight unless I sense anything wrong. I still don't feel right about making love last week when it could have been dangerous, Kate so I'm serious if I sense anything is wrong we stop. Plus no hollering out of you because we have to be quiet with Shannon right next door" Jack said his voice teasing.

Kate nodded. "Ok" she said kissing him again. He pulled away and she gave him a pout.

"It's almost dinner and I think it would be rude to keep Shannon confined to her room don't you think?" he asked with a smile and Kate chuckled.

"Ok but tonight you're mine" she said with a growl.

Jack grinned. "Aren't I always?"

Ok guys I know it's been a long time but there it is. Sorry it's the best I can do at the time.


	20. Chapter 20

Ok so I know its been a long time and I wouldn't blame any of you if you stopped reading, so I thought if I told you my evil twin came to town, seduced my boyfriend and locked me in an abandoned mine shaft where I was kept hostage for months before clawing my way out and then fighting my evil twin to the death, you would be more forgiving of my lack of updates. Ok so maybe not, sadly all I can say is I'm working sixty hours and if I tried to explain to my boss I need more time for Jate I'd be standing in the unemployment line. So uh Matthew Fox if you are out there and would like to pay me to write hot smutty stories about you, I'm your girl.

**CHAPTER 10**

Dinner was full of laughs as Shannon told Jack all kind of embarrassing stories about Kate. Jack had laughed but winked at Kate so she knew that he was laughing with her not at her. Shannon in turn asked Jack all kinds of questions about his life trying to learn as much about the man who stole her best friend's heart. They finally decided to call it a night when Jack noticed Kate yawning. He smiled softly to himself. He knew Kate wanted to make love but she looked like she was going to fall asleep standing in place. It wasn't that he didn't want to make love to her, he did but her pregnancy scare had shook him to the core, he could have lost her and that freaked him out. He didn't want to do anything to endanger her or the baby.

Shannon went to her room and Jack scooped up a sleepy Kate and carried her into the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and undressed by the time he crawled under the sheets, Kate was out like a light. He smiled and pulled her into his arms. Kate snuggled into his embrace and buried her face into his neck. It was her favorite way to sleep. Even when they were in Vegas during the small amounts of time that they actually slept she would snuggle right into him. With a smile on his face he drifted off into sleep.

The ringing phone woke him at two in the morning. He grasped for it as he heard Kate mumble beside him as she awoke. Dammit he wasn't on call.

"Hello" he said grumpily into the phone.

"Jack?" he heard a female voice. "Jack it's your mother."

Jack came to attention sitting straight up. "What is it, what's wrong?" Jack asked. There was no way his mother would call in the middle of the night.

"Jack, I'm at the hospital, Jack you're father had a heart attack."

Jack felt his blood run cold. "Is he uh how is he?" Jack asked.

"They got him back but he is going to need surgery. Jack Dr. Mitchell says he's not sure if your father's heart is strong enough for the surgery. Can you please come?" she asked her voice sounding so small and weak.

"Yeah of course I'm on my way." Jack leapt from the bed scrambling to grab his jeans and sweatshirt.

"Jack what's happening?" Kate asked her voice worried. "Is it the little boy with the tumor?"

"No" Jack said yanking the sweatshirt over his head. "My father had a heart attack, he's in the hospital and they aren't sure if he's going to be ok." He said pulling on his shoes. He looked up to see Kate getting out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans.

"Kate what are you doing?" he asked going towards her.

"I'm going with you." Kate said pulling off her night shirt and throwing on one of Jack's shirts. "Let me just find my shoes."

"Kate no," Jack said taking her shoulders gently. "You have to stay here."

"What? I don't think so Jack your father is in the hospital." Kate argued.

"I know baby but it's also freezing outside and you're on bed rest." Jack said.

Kate shook her head; it's a car ride and sitting in a waiting room Jack I'm going to have to do that for my doctor's appointment. I'm going with." She said stubbornly.

"Please Kate, I can't deal with my father and worry about you. Please just stay here and when I find out more I'll call you. I promise I will call you the minute I find anything out and then you and Shannon can come in ok? Please I need to know that you are ok." Jack was almost desperate he just wanted to keep her safe and get to his father. Seeing his desperation Kate nodded.

"Ok I'll stay but you call me Jack please if you need me you call and I will come. I love you." She felt tears form in her eyes and he desperately hugged her against him. "I know you are in a hurry but please drive carefully." She said kissing him quickly and with that he was out the door. Shannon came out sleepily rubbing her eyes. She saw the worried Kate standing there looking at the front door.

"Katie what's going on?" she asked.

"Jack's dad had a heart attack, they aren't sure if he's going to make. I should be with him Shannie." Kate said her lower lip trembling. Even though his relationship had been tremulous with his father that didn't mean that Jack didn't love him. She saw the scared look in his face when he raced out. He shouldn't be alone.

"Why didn't you go with?" Shannon asked gently leading Kate over to the couch.

"He doesn't want me going because I'm on bed rest but Shannon he needs me." Kate said a tear dripping down her cheek.

Shannon hated that her friend was hurting but she understood where Jack was coming from.

"Kate what if something happened to you or the baby being up and around when you aren't supposed to. How do you think Jack would feel if he had to deal with his father being ill and then something happening to you or the baby? I'm not trying to make you feel bad. But you have to think about your baby." Shannon said gently.

"I have to think about the baby's father too." Kate said with a sniffle. "I love him and he's in pain." Kate said.

"Did he say he would call?" Shannon asked.

"Yes, he said he'd call if he needed me." Kate said chewing on her bottom lip.

"Then trust him Kate, if he needs you he will call and we can go to the hospital. Now you need to relax and try to get some sleep." Shannon said seeing the incredulous look on Kate's face. "I know it will be hard but you gotta look out for the baby and yourself."

Kate sighed defeated, she wanted to be with Jack so badly but she knew both he and Shannon were right. She had to look out for the baby.

"Fine I'll lie on the couch and rest but I'm not going to sleep." She said settling on the couch pulling the blanket over her. She lay down and stared at the ceiling. Shannon pushed her over and lay down beside her and grabbed the blanket to share.

"We'll both lie on the couch and rest but not sleep ok?" Shannon said and Kate nodded so glad that her best friend was here with her.

Though she tried not to Kate dozed on and off through the night and at about eight in the morning she woke to the phone ringing. She heard Shannon answer it and she sat up.

"It's Jack" Shannon said handing her the phone. Kate grabbed it and held it close to her ear.

"Jack?" she asked anxiously.

"Hey baby" Kate felt her eyes well with tears, he sounded so tired.

"How's your Dad?" she asked throwing a silent prayer out for Christian for Jack's sake.

"It's bad Kate, he's in surgery but it isn't looking good." Jack said defeated.

"I'm coming to the hospital Jack, I promise I will take it easy but I'm coming to be with you." She said and she heard Jack inhale softly.

"I need you Kate but please be careful. There are extra beds you can lie in if you need to sleep." Jack said.

"I'll be there soon." Kate said. "I love you Jack."

"I love you too."

Jack hung up the phone and turned to see his mother watching him.

"Was that Kate?" his mother asked curiously. "Is she coming?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah I'm not sure I want her here, not because I don't want her but she is supposed to be on bed rest and traipsing around in the Chicago winter can't be good. I think I'm going to see if I can have a bed brought in so she can rest when she comes in." Jack said scratching his head anxiously.

"That sounds like a good idea" Margot Shephard said nervously. She wanted to meet the woman who ensnared her son's heart and she wanted to meet her future grandchild. When Christian had come home and told her that Jack was having a baby with some woman Margot had felt sad that her son hadn't done things in what could be considered the correct order. Meet someone, fall in love, get married and then have children. But the other part of her was happy because that is all she wanted for her son. Sarah had been no good for him and Margot could only hope this Kate was nothing like Jack's scheming ex. She felt sadness at the way things have unfolded in their lives. Christian had always been too hard on Jack, Jack had fled from the family and Margot had quietly resented Christian all these years. When he told her that he had argued with Jack and had struck him, Margot had spit nails. She had packed his things and thrown them down the stairs. He had begged for forgiveness and Margot had allowed him to stay in the house but nowhere near her. Then he came home and told her of Kate's emergency with the baby. Margot desperately wanted to call Jack but she felt so ashamed that she had allowed things to get so bad. She had always wondered if she should have just taken Jack and left Christian when Jack was young. But she loved Christian and so she stayed he didn't abuse her or Jack and as far as she knew that incident was the only time he struck Jack. She just didn't realize that Christian's constant digs and criticisms were just as damaging to Jack.

She had gotten a phone call from Sarah's mother; it seemed Sarah had split from the man she had left Jack for. Sarah's Mother Linda had wanted to try to get Jack and Sarah back together. Margot had only put up with Sarah because Jack had loved her. She had taken great pleasure when informing Linda that Jack was no longer available. She looked down the hall where Jack was arranging for a bed to be delivered and she smiled.

Kate and Shannon pulled up in front of the hospital and it took everything Kate had to not full on sprint to Jack. She took it slow because she had promised him she would. She and Shannon walked in and headed for the 6th floor. She had talked to Jack on the way over so he was waiting for her. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened the first person Kate saw was Jack nervously pacing the floor. He looked up and their eyes met and he was across the space in seconds and soon he was scooping her up in a hug. Kate touched him all over as if making sure he was still in one piece.

"How's your father?" she asked concerned looking into his eyes. He looked back at her sadly.

"He's out of surgery but he hasn't woken up yet. All we can do now is wait." Jack said dejected.

Kate hugged him close stroking his hair and back comforting her lover.

Shannon noticed an older woman watching the couple with tears in her eyes. She glanced at Shannon and smiled sheepishly.

"Hello, I'm Margot Shephard." Shannon shook her hand.

"Hi I'm Shannon Rutherford, I'm here with Kate, she's my best friend. I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. Shannon wasn't quite sure what to say. Both women turned their attention back to Kate and Jack.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked concerned.

"I'm fine Jack, I've been taking it easy I promise. How are you doing?" she asked stroking his cheek.

"Better now that you are here." He said with a tiny hint of a smile. He glanced up and saw something and looked back at Kate. "We have a private waiting area down the hall. We can all go there and be more comfortable. I had a bed brought down for you."

"Jack I don't need a bed" Kate said.

"Please just let me take care of you?" Jack asked his tone of voice breaking her heart. She nodded quickly knowing she would go to the gates of hell if he asked her. Jack leaned down and scooped her up into his arms carrying her to the waiting room. Jack wasn't kidding they did have their own private lounge to wait in. It had a fridge, microwave tables and couches and a bed tucked in the corner. Jack settled her on the bed and fluffed the pillows behind her.

"Jack?" they heard a soft voice behind them. Jack turned to see Margot behind them.

"Kate this is my mother Margot, Mom, this is Kate." Jack said nervously not sure how his mom would be towards Kate.

"Hello Kate," Margot said with a nervous smile. "I hear you are carrying a very important package." She said smiling larger.

Kate grinned and her hand automatically went to her stomach which was already being covered by Jack's strong hand.

"Hello, yes I'm pregnant with Jack's baby. I'm so sorry that this was how we had to meet." Kate said with a sympathetic smile.

"Well we're just going to have to get to know each other better than." Margot said and both women smiled at one another. The hours went by with still no change in Christian's condition. Kate catnapped on the bed but kept an eye on Jack at all the times she was awake. They looked up when the door opened and the doctor entered the room.

So I know it wasn't action packed but I needed this chapter to set up the feeling for the rest of the story. So I hope you liked and please please review.


	21. Chapter 21

Hey gang so here's the next update. So my feelings on episode 4.10 kind of mixed. The Jate love scenes were very hot (was it me or was Foxy a little too familiar with Evi's ass?) If I were his wife I'd be on set every day after that haha. So they were hot but watching the episode and knowing how last season ended with Jack's horrific flash forward kind of took all the enjoyment out of it. I mean he proposed and all I can think about is the fact that he could barely get her to talk to him, and how horrible his addiction gets. All I can hope for is they reunite after all of that and Kate fights to help save Jack.

Also keep seeing trailers for Speed Racer, the movie itself doesn't look like something I'll be blown away by but Foxy in his lycra, rubber suit is enough to get me to t

It's going on to 2 am and I'm exhausted please forgive all spelling and punctuation errors

**CHAPTER 21**

Jack froze when he saw his father's surgeon come out. He reached over and gripped his mom's hand. He noticed Kate had sat up and he reached over and placed his hand on her thigh.

"How is he Jim?" he asked his colleague.

"He made it through the surgery and he has come out of the anesthesia. He is still in a very vulnerable state. He is going to need to change his lifestyle, a new diet, exercise. Less work less stress, he is going to need to change his way of life." The doctor said.

Jack slumped with relief and his mother turned and hugged him tightly. She shook as her tears overwhelmed her. She pulled away after a second as she wiped her eyes. She looked at the doctor.

"He will do everything that he needs to." Margot promised. She walked over to the doctor to get all the details and Jack sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily.

Kate sat on the bed and she felt relief wash over her for Jack that his father was going to make it. She watched as he comforted his mother and heard the diagnosis when it dawned on her. The life Christian Shephard lived was the one that Jack was very close to following. Long hours, too much stress, not looking out for himself. Kate suddenly found herself scared for him. Jack turned and saw Kate and he noticed she had a slightly panicked look on her face, he went to her immediately.

"Kate what's wrong?" he asked concerned his hand went to her belly and he looked for signs of distress. "Is the baby ok?"

Kate touched his face, "Jack, shh the baby is fine, I promise." Kate said reassuring him.

"Why are you frowning?" he asked.

Kate sighed and looked into his eyes. "I want you to take the private practice job Jack, please?" Kate asked.

Jack looked at her for a second and then he realized why she was anxious.

"Hey," he said gently maneuvering her to lay back on the bed. "I'm not my father Kate" he leaned in so he could talk to her quietly without his mother hearing. "Kate my dad drinks like a fish, he works so much to avoid his life at home and I don't think he's exercised a day in his life. Granted I probably could have gone down that path but now that I have you Kate I'm not doing anything to jeopardize that. You and Baby and any brothers and sisters we may give Baby are my future now. But I do agree I think staying at the hospital will probably send me to an early grave and I'd like to take the job." Jack said stroking her hand gently. He looked up to see tears spill down her cheeks. "Oh crap now I made you cry. I'm sorry baby." Jack said wiping her tears away.

"No, ugh I hate these hormones sometimes." Kate said with a roll of her eyes. "Just listening to you talk about Baby and having more babies and just having an actual future it just seems so real and fantastic." Kate exclaimed her eyes shining with delight. "God Jack I'm gushing and your father is in the other room fighting for his life." Kate said feeling bad.

"No Kate don't ever apologize for feeling happy for us. This is our life and we need to live it." He let out a big sigh allowing the stress of the day roll off his shoulders. Kate rubbed the back of his neck.

"You ok baby?" she asked, pressing closer to kiss his jaw.

"Yeah, it's just bizarre I mean my father and I have rarely ever gotten along. Then suddenly he almost dies and I was scared Kate, I was really scared." He smiled gently at her, "I guess maybe it's time he and I start mending fences."

"I like your mom." Kate said looking over to Margot, "Granted we have barely spoken but so far so good." She wrapped her arms around him resting her head on his shoulder.

Jack kissed the side of her head and his eyes took in the room. "Uh where's Shannon?" Jack asked.

Kate smiled. "She thought this was a family thing so she was going to go down to the cafeteria. Personally I think it was the doctor in the hallway that got her moving. God help the poor man when Shannon sets her mind on a man he doesn't stand much of a chance." Kate said with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah well I know that feeling" Jack said with a smirk and Kate smacked his arm but then kissed him right after.

"And don't you forget that you belong to me." Kate said sweetly.

Jack was about to answer when he saw a flurry of activity at the door. He saw Shannon laughing and hanging off of the hospital's leading oncologist Sayid.

"Looks like Shannon has fallen for Sayid." Jack said with a chuckle.

"Oh god he isn't married is he?" Kate asked.

"Nope he's single and he's a real good guy." Jack said.

"Hmm, well if Shannon plays her cards right, we might have the apartment to ourselves tonight." She stroked his arm seductively. She frowned when Jack tensed slightly.

"We'll see" was all he said and Kate sighed.

A few minutes later the doctor returned to let them know they could visit Christian. Margot went first and Jack sat on Kate's bed and she noticed he was wringing his hands.

"Are you ok?" she asked for what felt like the millionth time.

"Yeah I'm just kind of nervous to see him. I mean I don't know it just feels strange." Jack said shaking his head not sure how to explain his feelings. Kate nodded she knew Jack was a bundle of confusion. They were interrupted by Margot entering the room.

"Jack, he'd like to see you." She said with a small smile.

Jack nodded and let out a deep breath. Kate rubbed his back gently and he leaned down kissed her mouth gently and then left to see his dad. He ran into the charge nurse on his way into the ICU.

"He's weak so he might not be able to talk long." She said giving his arm a reassuring squeeze.

Jack put on the protective gown and mask and walked into the ICU and went to his father's bedside.

"Jack?" Christian asked in a raspy voice.

"Yeah Dad, I'm here." Jack said sitting in the chair next to the bed.

"I'm so sorry Jack," Christian rasped.

"Dad, you need to rest" Jack interrupted.

"Jack I just had open heart surgery, let me talk." Christian said with a wry smile. "I almost died Jack, I'm not stupid I know how close I came. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, made horrible mistakes, to your mother, to you. But my one regret was how you and I have been. If I could go back and change one thing it would be raising my hand to you. I don't expect you to forgive me but please know I'm so sorry." Christian said taking a tired breath.

"I know you are." Jack said. He looked at him. "I know you're sorry but there has been a lot of damage done and I can't just forget that. I will try to forgive you though. Dad you almost died and it scared the hell out of me. You have a grandchild coming and even though we have a lot to work through I want you to be in my baby's life. In order for you to do that you have to respect my relationship with Kate, I love her and I will do anything to keep her in my life, even if that means turning my back on you. You also have to respect that Kate and this baby are my life now, not my career." Jack said looking his father in the eye.

Christian nodded, "I've been so hard on you Jack, I thought if I pushed you hard enough you would succeed to do great things. I was wrong though, you didn't need to be pushed. You are a great doctor and from what I've been privileged to see, you are a great man." Christian said proudly. "And you are going to be a great father, a whole lot better than I ever was."

Jack swallowed hard as he controlled his emotions. "You're making a good start today." He said. They shared a meaningful smile. A few minutes later Christian fell asleep and Jack got up and left the room. He went back into their private room and he saw his mom and noticed Kate was sound asleep on her bed.

"She fell asleep about fifteen minutes ago." Margot said with a whisper. "Poor thing was fighting it, I think she was waiting for you but she couldn't fight it off. I remember what that was like, there were times I fell asleep doing the strangest things when I was pregnant with you. One time I fell asleep when I was eating dinner. My face would have ended up in my plate if your father hadn't had picked me up out of the chair." Margot said with a soft smile remembering the times where she and Christian had been affectionate and loving.

Jack smiled at his mom's wistfulness; it was nice to hear such a story. He looked at his watch and sighed. The day had flown by and it was going on seven. He hated waking Kate up but he knew she wouldn't want to sleep on a hospital bed. Visiting hours were ending and Margot was going to stay with Christian.

"She's beautiful Jack." His mom said when she saw Jack looking at Kate. "She seems really sweet too."

"Yeah she is." Jack said proudly. "She's the best thing to ever happen to me, I think she saved my life." He said his voice becoming hoarse. "I've never loved anyone the way I love her, and I have never been loved by anyone the way she loves me. You know I got an emergency call in the middle of the night and Kate actually got up to make me coffee and food to eat so I wouldn't be sleepy or hungry." Jack said almost unbelieving. "She asks me how my day was, she rubs my shoulders when I'm stressed she listens to me when I rant and rave. I've never had that before. With Sarah I felt like I was walking on pins and needles because I was afraid I might upset her. I never talked about my dreams or my feelings because I knew she wasn't interested." Jack said.

Margot felt her heart break as she heard her son describe a love he should have always known and she was grateful that he had at least found it now.

"I should get her and baby home" he said with a grin. Margot chuckled.

"I can't wait to be a Grandma." Margot said but Jack could hear the question behind the comment. Would he allow Margot into his child's life?

"You're going to be a great one." He said and Margot grinned.

Jack went to the bed and gently stroked Kate's cheek. He leaned in close and whispered into her ear.

"Kate, sweetheart? It's time to wake up baby." He gently kissed her. He felt her stir and watched as her eyelids fluttered, her eyes opened with slight confusion and then he watched as they focused on him and they softened with love.

"Hi" she said stretching and then reaching up for him. He leaned forward and kissed her deeply. He pulled away and smirked when she let out a disgruntled sound at his retreat.

"We're in the private room and my mom is sitting feet away from us." He said with a smirk and he grinned as Kate blushed. She was groping Jack when his mother was in the same room.

He helped her sit up and stroked her cheek as she yawned she was still sleepy.

"Let's go home" he said brushing a curl out of her eyes. "We can pick up some food on the way home, I'm sure you're tired of hospital cafeteria food."

"Pizza?" Kate asked her eyes dancing with delight.

Jack grinned, "You know Rose is going to think I'm feeding you this junk food."

"Please?" she asked and Jack smiled and kissed her again softly.

"Whatever you want." He said. "Shannon went to grab dinner with Sayid when it was found out my dad was ok. I think she was a little uncomfortable being involved in my family drama. It couldn't have been too much fun for you." Jack said.

Kate reached up and cupped his face, "I wanted to be here with you and I was, that was enough for me."

They kissed sweetly and then Jack broke away. He called downstairs and one of the interns offered to pull his car around front.

"Either I carry you or I order a wheelchair." Jack told Kate when he had her all bundled up and ready to go.

Kate made a face, "How about I just walk out all by myself." She said.

Jack just shook his head and Kate looked over at Margot who was watching them slightly amused. Noticing Kate's imploring look she shook her head.

"Oh no don't look at me. I have to defer to the doctor on this one." Margot said holding up her hands.

"Ugh a wheelchair?" Kate asked.

"I can carry you, makes me feel all manly and stuff when I carry you around." Jack said giving his chest a mock thump. Kate rolled her eyes but held her arms out to him in surrender. Jack scooped her up and bidding his mother goodbye he carried her out to the elevator. He knew as he exited the hospital to his car that the rumor mill would really be spinning by tomorrow. They picked up their food and they went home and had a quiet yet comfortable dinner. When they were done Kate had given Shannon her key earlier so they turned in for the night. Kate snuggled close to Jack and rubbed his chest gently.

"I'm glad your dad is going to ok, did you get a chance to talk with him much?" she asked.

Jack kissed her forehead, "Yeah we had a good talk, we have a lot to work through but we made some headway, he is looking forward to being a grandpa." He said with a chuckle.

Kate sighed happily. "I'm glad we were afraid this little one was going to have any grandparents but your mom and dad both want to be in our lives. That's pretty amazing." Kate said. She smiled to herself, they were all alone and Jack was in a sated, relaxed mood. She moved up and before he knew it she was on top of him straddling him. She leaned down and kissed him hungrily.

"Love me Jack" she whispered against his mouth. Jack sighed and he maneuvered her off of him gently. Kate let out a frustrated moan as he stood from the bed and away from her.

"Not yet Kate" he said. "Not until after your check up."

Kate rolled her eyes. "We made love the night after my pain Jack and nothing happened so don't you think worrying about it now is pretty much pointless?" she asked annoyed.

"We shouldn't have done it then and we got lucky." Jack said rubbing his head. He wanted her more than she could ever know but he couldn't risk her losing the baby.

"This is just stupid." She said, she knew she was being bitchy but her hormones were going great guns for him and she just couldn't seem to get them under control.

"The welfare of our child is not stupid." Jack said and Kate was stunned at the low and cold tone his voice took.

"Of course it isn't Jack." She said warily. "I would never suggest it was." But we've already made love, I don't see what the big deal is.

"I will not lose you or this baby Kate!" Jack shouted silencing Kate, and she watched shocked as he stormed out of the bedroom. She tried to wrap her mind around the argument they had and she crawled from the bed. How did they go from happily snuggling to yelling and storming out of rooms? She came out to see him sitting on the couch in the dark his hands in his head. She knew something was very wrong.

"Jack talk to me" she said softly. "Please"

Jack rubbed his eyes wearily. "Back in the beginning of my marriage to Sarah we were actually happy. She wasn't always like she is now. We had been married for a couple months when she got real sick. When we got to the hospital we found out that she had been pregnant and that she had miscarried. The thought that we had made a child and lost it without our knowledge broke my heart. I think that was when Sarah pulled away. She acted like the miscarriage was no big deal and she began to talk about never having kids. I tried to get her to talk about the miscarriage but she wouldn't. I grew to resent her I'm sure as much as she resented me. The miscarriage haunted me and it still does. I think of what that baby could have been. I can't lose our baby Kate. I just can't. I hate myself for touching you that night, I never should have. So please respect my wishes when I say I want to wait until the doctor gives us the ok. Is that too much to ask for? Because I'm beginning to feel a little uncomfortable that all you seem to want from me is sex. That may be what this relationship started out on but I believe it is continuing on with different means." He stood up and looked out his window onto the cold snowy night.

Kate felt her heartbreak as he described his loss. She wanted to hurt Sarah for the damage she inflicted on Jack but she also could understand how a miscarriage could change a person's personality. She went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist resting her cheek against his bare back.

"I'm sorry Jack, I'm so sorry. I don't want to fight anymore ok? I promise I won't bother you about having sex until we get the doctor's ok. I'm so sorry for your loss and I don't want to do anything to hurt this baby. You were right." Kate said. Jack turned around and hugged her close as he heard her sniffle.

"I don't just love you because of sex Jack, I mean I love it between us but I do know we have more than that in common besides sex. I love you for everything that you are." Kate said her voice cracking. Jack answered her by pulling her into his arms as he held her tight in his arms while he whispered 'I love you' over and over into his ear. He scooped her u and carried her into the bedroom. There they snuggled together until sleep claimed them as they managed to come out of their first real argument. They were ok now and they would talk more tomorrow.

Ok gang there it is. please review


	22. Chapter 22

Hey gang so I noticed this story dropped majorly in reviews, so first I appreciate those who did review the last chapter and I guess the only thing is I guess people are losing interest in the story so perhaps it's time I bring it to an end? Let me know what you guys think.

Also I completely fudged all medical speak in this chapter, its all crazy fiction but I'll try to make it sound all medical and stuff so it sounds believable ok?

**CHAPTER 22**

The rest of the week went by with no major complications. Kate took it easy and she and Shannon spent the rest of the week giggling and sharing 'girl' talk. Claire had come over a couple times and all three women got along well. Christian was recovering well and was expected to be released from the hospital in the next day or so. Kate had backed off from asking Jack to make love to her, his experience with Sarah and the miscarriage had been enough to scare her into following doctor's orders and more. She spent her time resting and taking it easy. Shannon and Sayid had hit it off better than even Kate had expected and Shannon had been dragging her feet about her return to Las Vegas. Kate secretly hoped that their relationship would not only work out but that Sayid could convince Shannon to move out to Chicago. She would love it if she could have her love, her baby and and her best friend all together in the same city.

Kate flipped through the magazine as she scanned through the article about the perils of child birth, ok time to look at another magazine. She set it down and sighed. Jack looked up from the chair next to her.

"You ok?" he asked. They were in Dr. McDonald's office late in the afternoon waiting for her check up.

"I think I'm going to scream if I see one more article on the painful reality of child birth." Kate said leaning back in the chair.

"Well" Jack said matter of fact. "I have never given birth so I can't say whether it's that bad or not, however women have been doing it since the beginning of time and they have survived the pain, so I mean that has to mean something right? Or I'll just concede that I'm a man, I know nothing and I'll be quiet." He said with a sheepish grin.

Kate giggled. "It's ok for you to say that now, however I would suggest you don't say anything like that when I'm in the act of child birth. The only thing that you need to do that day besides being there for me, is to make sure I'm not only getting the drugs but that I'm getting the good stuff. I'm not having the baby of this hospital's top doctor for nothing you know, I expect perks."

Jack chuckled. "It will be my honor to make sure you are drugged and pain free." He said with a mock salute.

"Some people say getting drugs is a bad thing, what do you think?" Kate asked nervously chewing on her lip.

"I say you're the one who is having my baby and it's your choice, though the drugs are fine many women have them and they have perfectly healthy children." Jack said.

"Good answer" Kate said with a smirk and she kissed his lips gently.

"What can I say, I'm well trained." Jack said and Kate patted him on the head gently.

"Kate Austen?" the nurse stood at the admitting desk.

"Here goes" Kate said with a nervous smile. Jack gathered their coats and took her hand and they made their way to the examining room. The nurse explained that Jack could wait outside for the exam and he could join Kate afterwards. He looked at Kate who was unhappy about the prospect about being separated from Jack. He trusted Dr. McDonald though and if she felt it was best he wasn't in the room then he would defer to her knowledge.

"It's ok" he said with reassurance" "I will be right here waiting for you when you're done." Jack said stroking her cheek. He leaned in and kissed her deeply. When they pulled away Kate looked at him and gave him a nod, she would be brave for him.

Kate went into the room with one last look in Jack's direction. She stripped and changed into the unflattering hospital gown. She settled on the table while she waited for the doctor.

"So you are big news" the nurse said as she made some notes on the chart.

"Excuse me?' Kate asked looking up.

"Well you're here because you're pregnant with Jack Shephard's baby. I mean please don't take offense to my bluntness. It's just Dr. Shephard has been the hospital's most sought after bachelor and suddenly he has a girlfriend and a baby on the way. Many hearts have been broken." The nurse said with a small smile. "I for one think it's great the women who always chased after him weren't any good for him. But I saw you two in the waiting room, he lights up when he looks at you." She gave Kate a wink and the door opened and the doctor entered.

"Well Kate why don't we get started." Dr. McDonald said with a warm smile.

Jack waited in the secondary waiting area and looked up when the door to the examining room opened.

"Come on in Jack." He looked up to see Dr. McDonald.

He entered the office part of the room and saw Kate sitting at a chair at the desk.

"Kate?" he asked his voice concerned. Kate turned at the sound of his voice. When she saw him she leapt from the chair and threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. Jack held her afraid to move, had something happened to the baby?

"We're ok" Kate said leaning back to look at his face. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears and her smile was gorgeous. "Me and baby are perfectly ok." She said.

"Are you sure?" he asked. He glanced at the doctor.

"Kate has made a perfect recovery, the small amount of tearing she had has healed and there is no more signs of any distress. I think Kate is going to have some very healthy months of pregnancy ahead of her." The doctor said with a smile.

Jack turned to Kate his emotions bursting in his chest. He couldn't talk he was so full of happiness. He pulled her tight and hugged her close to his body. He stroked her hair and rocked her gently just breathing her in.

Kate leaned back and she smiled and they kissed deeply. They pulled away and Kate blushed remembering she was kissing Jack in front of her doctor. They finished up with their paperwork and headed for the car. Jack got Kate settled in and he got in on the driver's side putting the heat on high and giving the car a chance to warm up. Kate could barely contain herself and she lunged across the seat and threw her arms around Jack's neck letting out a joyous giggle. Jack pulled her over and settled her in his lap pushing his seat back so she didn't get squished by the steering wheel. They kissed hungrily their tongues playing and teasing each other. Kate moaned into Jack's mouth. They pulled away and nuzzled their noses.

"Don't get mad." She said regaining her breath. "Dr. McDonald said it was perfectly safe for us to make love." She said cautiously. She didn't want to get Jack worried again.

"I know" he said. "and I'm sorry for the way I snapped at you the other night. I don't ever want you to feel like you have to hide any of your feelings from me and you should never feel bad for feeling something."

"Jack, it's ok, I was confused at first by your not wanting to make love but once you explained your fears to me I understood completely." Kate said stroking his hair.

"So is it ok if I take you home and make love to you." Jack asked with a teasing grin.

Kate ran her hand down his chest, "Do we have to wait to get home?" she asked with a sexy smirk. "I've missed you Jack, and I've needed you so bad. I don't want to wait." She said breathlessly as she pressed her mouth against his. Jack groaned as her talented little hands made their way down his body and dipping between them to rub his crotch through his jeans.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked around a moan as she stroked him.

"I want you now." She said with no hesitation. Jack turned her so she was straddling him.

"You do realize we are sitting in my car in the hospital parking lot where anyone can see us." Jack said though he continued to kiss and nibble on Kate's jawline.

"Remember that conversation we had a while back about public sex?" Kate said and she giggled as Jack groaned. "Right now would be an excellent time to try it out."

Jack looked around and looked back at her, "I'll make you a deal, we can go somewhere else but not here in the car. It's too cramped."

"Spoil sport" Kate said but she grinned she knew he was right and she really didn't want to bang into the steering wheel constantly. "So where should we go?" her voice tinged with excitement.

"It's going on 6:00pm, you're appointment took longer than I thought." Suddenly he had an idea. He grinned at her and she smiled back knowing whatever he had in mind for them it would great. She moved back into the passenger seat and buckled up as Jack drove out onto the main road. About ten minutes later they pulled in front of a building with a neon sign that read, _Smooth_. Kate looked at him with a raised eyebrow and Jack gave her a naughty grin.

"It's a dance club and it's dark and there are a lot of corners in which two people can disappear into." He said with a shrug.

"And how would you know that?" Kate asked.

"I've been here before and have accidently bumped into people who were, uh let's say very occupied. We don't have to do this if you don't want to Kate." He said, it was one thing to joke about public sex when you're in the heat of the moment it was another thing to actually do it.

Kate looked at the building and a smile crept to her lips. "Let's do it" she said with a firm nod. She knew ideally her first time with Jack after these last two weeks and the scares should probably be romantic with candles, but Kate wanted Jack now and the thought of doing it in public made her moist right then and there. Plus she and Jack had never been conventional why start now. Jack came around and opened her door for her. He held her close as they ran into the building to escape the frigid air. Jack paid the bouncer at the door their cover cost and they went inside. Jack hadn't been kidding when he said it was dark inside, the place was split into different sections. Some sections of the club were well lit where people were sitting, drinking and eating. Another section was lit with a giant strobe light and effects. Off to the other side it was dark. Jack took her by her hand and led her to the darker section. Kate's heart raced and the anticipation rushed through her veins. When they reached a secluded corner Jack pulled Kate into his arms and held her close as he gently swayed to the sound of the music pumping through the club, it had an erotic jungle beat and Kate felt herself flush with heat and desire as she let the music pump through her. She allowed her eyes to take in the club and she saw a couple off to the side of them kissing and touching each other desperately. Kate knew from her own experience with that kind of lust that the two would be making love soon. Sure enough the man maneuvered the woman into the shadows and Kate figured they too would be partaking in the erotic draw of sex in a place where they could be discovered any second.

She stroked the back of Jack's neck and she moved her body sexily against his. She pulled away to look at him and he was watching her with hungry eyes. She leaned up and pressed her mouth against his. Their mouths meshed together and their tongues mated in a way that their bodies craved to do. Jack buried one hand in her hair and with the other he eased her back into the shadows against the nearest wall. Kate moaned as he pressed against her. He thrust against her and she felt the hardness in his pants. She reached down and fumbled with the button and zipper of his jeans. She got them undone and she slipped her hand inside his pants. She used her other hand to push his pants down to his thighs along with his boxers. His penis was freed and Kate gripped him tightly. Jack swore and he gripped her hair harder as he hungrily ate at her mouth. He let go of her hair and reached down to grip her skirt. Even in the freezing winter she wore skirts which he figured she did to just drive him crazy. He pulled it up around her waist and rubbed his hands along her thighs and hips.

"Oh god Jack" she moaned. "It's been too long."

"Tell me what you want." He said his voice caressed her ear.

"I want you inside me." Kate pleaded pressing against him stroking him harder in her little hand.

He gripped her leg and wrapped it around his waist. He grinned at her.

"In another month or so this is going to be much harder to do." Jack said his thumbs caressing her belly.

Kate looked at him and let out a huff. "Don't ruin the mood Jack." She ordered and he grinned as he pulled her close. His hands moved the crotch of her panties to the side and readied his penis at her awaiting entrance. Kate let her head sink back against the wall the drumming of the music vibrated through the wall into her body in an erotic vibration. Jack slipped the head of his penis in between the sweet folds of her body.

"I can feel your heat waiting to scorch me." He said and with that he buried himself deep inside her. Kate let out a cry of ecstasy but no one would hear it over the music. Jack rocked in and out of her his rock hard member going further and further inside of her. He gripped her other leg and hoisted her up so both legs wrapped around him and he sank inside deeper. Kate could barley contain herself as Jack fucked her hard against the wall. She bit her lip to hold in the laughter when she noticed a couple dancing near by. If they were to move closer and look harder they would see the couple having sex against the wall. Kate could feel her orgasm building in her lower stomach but she didn't want to come yet. She wanted to enjoy the feel of him pushing in and out of her. His penis stretched her and embedded deep inside and Kate was moaning loudly. She clenched suddenly coming hard around him. She shivered and shook in his embrace. He held her close whispering sweet and encouraging words into her ear. When she finally came down from the internal explosion that raged through her body she buried her face into his neck. He was still hard inside of her and Kate stroked his back.

"Come inside of me Jack." She said into his ear. "Please Jack fill me with your cum, it's been so long since I've felt you come inside of me." Kate encouraged him.

Jack bit his lip and gave three large thrusts and then exploded deep within her. His seed filled her and he moaned as his body shook with release. He collapsed against her and Kate allowed her legs to slip from his waist and settle on the floor. He pulled away from her and they kissed hungrily. He straightened their clothes out while they kissed consistently. When they were sim put back together they leaned against the wall and kissed for minutes just tasting one another.

"How do you feel?" he asked in between kisses.

"Perfect" she said and then she giggled. "You just fucked me against the wall in a crowded club and I don't think anyone noticed." She said.

"Ok one, I didn't fuck you, I never fuck you. I make love to you." Jack said kissing the tip of her nose. "And two for making love in a public place I thought we should work our way up to doing it in daylight for all to see." He said with a smirk.

"Ooh" Kate said "I can't wait to 'work up' to it. We better get cracking before my tummy gets too big between us." She said as Jack slipped his arm around her and led her out of the club. She didn't eat or drink anything she barely danced but this was definitely her favorite place in all of Chicago, that and the maternity shop that had sold her the sexy lingerie. They got into the car and were pulling out when Jack reached over and stroked her belly.

"Just so you know, if you feel your tummy ever gets to big, I'll just have to take you from behind." He said with a wink and Kate moaned.

"I think I want you again Jack" she said and she realized she was feeling the same way she did back in Vegas.

He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it while stopped at a red light. "Soon, sweetheart, we'll be home soon." He promised.

The light turned green and Jack accelerated, they never saw the truck that ran the red light and smashed into them.

Ok so there it is, end of story. Hehe just kidding. So I guess you'll just have to review and let me know you care if you want to find out what happens. I'm blackmailing you isn't it great : )


	23. Chapter 23

Thanks so much for all the reviews guys, it made me feel good to know people still care : ) So I will try to get this done asap.  I'm sorry it's taken so long to update life has been a flaming ball of chaos.

**CHAPTER 23**

            "Kate wake up. Come on Kate open your eyes." Kate heard the voice ordering her to wake up and she wanted to tell them to leave her alone. Everything was murky and she just wanted to just keep sleeping. However that didn't seem to be working because her eyes started to flutter open and she moaned as a bright light stung her eyes. A few minutes later her eyes adjusted and she found herself looking up to see Dr. McDonald looking at her. Kate looked at her confused, why was Dr. McDonald waking her up. Kate closed her eyes as she tried to get her head cleared. It hit her suddenly. She and Jack had been in the car they were smiling and laughing and then there were headlights and a loud crash. Her eyes sprung open and she tried to sit up.

            "Easy Kate easy." Dr. McDonald said pressing Kate back against the pillows. "Just relax"

            "What happened?" Kate asked, "Did we have an accident, there was another car, my baby, where's Jack?" Kate asked all the questions at once in a rush of words.

            "Kate just take it easy ok, you need to calm down. You and the baby are fine and you need to stay calm." Kate nodded trying to calm down, the doctor said the baby was ok so that was good. "You were in a car accident, you were hit by a drunk driver. You were brought in with a nasty bump on your head. You were unconscious and we ran some test but besides having a nasty headache you and the baby are just fine."

            Kate nodded relieved "Ok well that's good, where's Jack he should be here shouldn't he?" she asked looking around for him. She glanced at Dr. McDonald and noticed the doctor avoided her glance for a second. Kate felt her body flush with a wave of icy coldness. "Where is Jack, where is he?" she asked her voice full of panic.

            "Calm down Kate" the doctor tried to sooth her but Kate was having none of it.

            "Don't tell me to calm down, where is Jack?" Kate said, she threw the covers back and tried to climb from the bed. The doctor held her back and spoke firmly to her.

            "Kate, calm down" she said sternly. "You are no good to Jack if you get yourself worked into a fit and endanger yourself and the baby."

            Kate felt the tears stream down her face. She just wanted Jack to come and hold her, then she would know everything was ok.

            "Please" she whimpered, holding onto the doctor desperately. "Where is Jack?"

            Dr. McDonald sat on the edge of the bed. "The truck that hit you, ran into the driver's side of your car. Jack took the full brunt of the hit." She said her voice soft.

            Kate couldn't breathe. "Is he…?" she couldn't finish the question it was too horrific to even think about. She tried again. "Is he…dead?" she choked out wanting to throw up with the words.

            "No Kate" the doctor said. "He is still alive and he is fighting hard."

            Kate went limp knowing if that if Jack was gone she couldn't go on without him. "Tell me" she said clearing her throat.

            "He's in a coma Kate, he suffered severe injuries to his head and he had some internal bleeding that the surgeons were able to get under control.  He broke his ribs but there was no spinal injury."

            "So he's going to be ok?" Kate asked the hope heartbreakingly evident in her voice.

            "Kate I won't lie to you, he has a lot of swelling in his brain and if it doesn't come down there is a chance he won't awake from his coma. That is worst case scenario Kate ok, so we are going to look at every positive thing ok. His injuries have been controlled, the chances of him awaking are much higher than him not. And I have known Jack for many years and he is a fighter Kate and I know he won't stop fighting to get back to you."

            Kate nodded though her heart was breaking thinking of all the damage that was done to her beautiful love. She prayed that he didn't feel any pain when they crashed. She wiped her eyes and tried to compose herself.

            "Please take me to him." She asked looking the doctor directly in the eyes.

            "Kate that isn't the best idea…" Dr. McDonald started to say.

            "I want to be with Jack, my baby needs to be near its father and Jack needs to know I'm there with him. Either you can help me get to him or I can get out of this bed and crawl if I have to, either way I am going to be with Jack." She said her voice rising.

            "Easy Katie." Kate and Dr. McDonald looked up to see Shannon standing in the doorway. She looked exhausted but her eyes were alive with delight at seeing Kate awake and as cranky as ever. The doctor excused herself sharing a look with Shannon that said, 'good luck'.

            "I could hear you yelling down the hallway, god you're loud." She said with a small smile.

            "Bring me to Jack." Kate demanded.

            Shannon gave her a sympathetic smile and took Kate's hand. "Give me a break ok, ever since I've gotten into town I feel like I've spent more time in the hospital then at your place. So let me just catch my breath and be grateful that my dearest friend escaped a horrific crash and is going to be ok." She said her eyes welling with tears. "This was close Katie, don't you ever scare me like that."

            Kate felt her friends anguish but her need to get to Jack was overwhelming. "I'm fine Shannon, the doctor said baby and I are fine, but I'm not going to be ok if I don't see Jack. Please let me see him." She pleaded tears spilling over her cheeks.

            Shannon nodded, "Ok I will take you, but you have to prepare yourself Kate. He is black and blue all over, especially his face, he's connected to a tube that is helping him breathe ok?"

            Kate nodded feeling her throat clench at the thought of him needing help to breathe. Shannon helped her to a wheelchair even though Kate insisted she could walk. Shannon said it was wheelchair or nothing so Kate kept her mouth shut.

            They entered the ICU room and Kate could hear machines beeping around her. Shannon brought Kate to the side of a bed and it took Kate a second to realize what she was looking at. She stood up and her heart broke at the site before her. Her Jack was lying in the bed, there was no movement except for the rise and fall of his chest which was being accompanied by the machine next to her. His face was bruised and battered his eyes blackened and the parts of his skin not marred by bruising was ghostly pale. Kate couldn't control the tears as they streamed down her face. She looked at him and she saw his still hand lying before her. She gingerly picked it up praying she wasn't hurting him.

            "Hi sweetheart" she said her voice choked with emotion. "Oh god Jack please wake up, ok? I'm really scared right now so I'm pulling the 'I'm pregnant with your baby' card and telling you that you need to wake up and reassure me that you're ok." She leaned over and lightly brushed her lips across his cheek. "So wake up Jack, please." She didn't know how long she stood beside him rotating from standing to sitting but never leaving his side. Shannon shook her back to reality when she explained Jack's parents were here to visit Jack. Kate knew it was selfish but she didn't want to leave Jack's side but she knew his parents needed the chance to spend time with their son. She nodded, kissed Jack goodbye with a promise to be right back and Shannon wheeled her out of the room. She looked up and saw his parents and her heart went out to them. Christian had only been out of the hospital for a day or two and looked like death warmed over, Margot looked like she was holding on by a thin thread. When she saw Kate she bent and hugged her tightly.

            "Thank God you're ok" she said. "Knowing you're ok gives me so much hope for Jack, he will never give up on you. He'll keep fighting to come back to you."

            Kate bit her lip and nodded. "He's strong and stubborn he won't stop fighting." She said in a choked voice and smiled brokenly at Christian when he squeezed her arm gently.  Kate watched as they went into the room and took vigil at their son's bedside. Kate rubbed her stomach gently. Needing to feel the life within her to remind her that there was hope. Jack wouldn't leave her and her baby behind, he just wouldn't.

            She rubbed her eyes and looked up at Shannon. "I think I want to be alone for a little bit." She said, Shannon started to argue but Kate held her hand up. "I think I just want to sit in the chapel for a few minutes." She said. Shannon nodded and Kate wheeled herself into the hospital's chapel Kate stood from the chair and slowly made her way up into a front row pew. She sat and looked around, the sanctuary was empty but peaceful. She looked up to see a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. She stroked her stomach and fel tears fill her eyes.

            "Hi God," she said looking up. "I know you and I don't talk much but I really need you now. You see I'm scared, I'm so scared right now that I'm afraid I'm going to stop breathing.  Not that long ago I asked you to look out for my unborn baby, and you did and I'm so grateful, but by asking you to save my baby did I sacrifice Jack. Am I not worthy of having the full package? I have to sacrifice one to save the other?" her voice choked and she let out a sob. "Oh God please don't make me choose, please don't make me." She begged.

            "I don't think works that way" Kate heard a voice and saw a man wearing a white clerical collar, it was the hospital Chaplain. He nodded to the seat next to her and Kate gestured for him to sit. "Tell me child what has you so upset.

            Kate wiped her eyes and tried to still her racing heart. "The man I love is lying in a bed in a coma because we were hit by a drunk driver, we didn't meet under usual circumstances but when we did it was instant you know? I knew he was the one for me. We were separated from each other but found our way back to one another. I'm having his baby and we had a scare with the little one but everything turned out ok, now Jack is fighting for his life and I just feel so lost." She said the tears forming again. "I'm not a bad person." She pleaded with the chaplain.  "Jack and I aren't married and we're having a baby, but we want to get married, we want to be married. Is God punishing us for that because I got pregnant before marriage?" she asked the man.

            He smiled warmly at her, "Some will tell you it is a sin, but I believe that God loves everyone. And remember back in the early days of man there were no churches, wedding licenses, people would usually just swear their love to one another in front of a holy leader who would give them a blessing. But the poor didn't always have the chance to do even that especially if there was no holy leader for them to find. Do I believe God didn't recognize their love or life together, no I don't. I think if you and this man love each other and you both love this baby and want to raise to to grow up and be a good person then I think God will say that's all he could ask for."

            Kate sniffled. " I want to marry Jack, we just keep getting interrupted and separated and now I'm so scared he won't wake up. I don't want to go on without him." She said wiping at her  eyes.

            The man smiled warmly at her. "You just need to have faith, in God that no matter what happens he will protect your Jack, faith that Jack loves you as much as you obviously love him and faith in yourself that no matter what happens you will go on  and you will care for this little baby the way Jack would want you to." He stood and squeezed her shoulder. "Have faith young lady that's all you can do. Now if you'll excuse me there are some patients I need to visit." He started to leave and Kate grabbed his hand.

            "Thank you," she said "If you get a free moment, Jack is in room 403, maybe you could stop by and meet him." He smiled.

            "I look forward to it." He gave her a wink and left the chapel.

            Kate turned back and looked back at the front of the church. "Ok God I'm going to have faith and please have faith in Jack and me that we are right together and that we will raise a good person." She said rubbing her stomach. She turned to walk away and then stopped and said. "Oh and I promise Jack and I will get married, no more living in sin." She said.

            She entered Jack's room. She had just gotten an earful from Shannon because she had left her chair behind in the chapel. Kate didn't want or need it though. She knew she could walk just fine. Christian and Margot had gone to get something to eat so she was alone with Jack. She walked to his bedside and took his hand.

            "I promised a Chaplain and God that you would make an honest woman out of me when you woke up, don't you dare make me a liar, Jack Shephard." She sighed and looked at him drinking him in and though he was bruised and her heart broke at the sight of his injuries she was grateful he was alive.  She moved the tubes at his side and she crawled onto his bed and snuggled into his side careful not to jostle him. She laid her head on his pillow her mouth near his ear. She spoke quietly to him. She didn't say anything in particular but just told him about herself, her day what she had read in her baby book, names she liked for boys and girls. She just talked to him because she believed he could hear her. She snuggled closer and fell asleep beside him, praying that tomorrow would bring Jack back to her.

OK guys I hope you liked it, hit the review and let me know if you enjoyed the chapter.


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